

BY REV. PAUL COFFIN, D.D. 
I 762. 

AND AN ADDRESS 

BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 
1886. 



I 



A SERMON 

BY 

REV. PAUL COFFIN, D.D. 

Preached August 15, 1762 
NARRAGANSET No. 1, NOW BUXTON, MAINE 

AND 

AN ADDRESS 

DELIVERED THERE AUGUST 15, 1886 

BY 

CYRUS WOODMAN 



CAMBRIDGE 
JOHN WILSON AND SON 

1888 



7 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface 3 

Remarks Introductory to the Reading of the Sermon 5 

Forenoon Sermon 7 

Afternoon Sermon 21 

Address by Cyrus Woodman 37 

APPENDIX. 

I. Illustrations 73 

II. The Old Meeting-House and Meeting-House Lot 75 

III. Dr. Coffin's Manuscript Sermons 89 

IV. Bibliography of Buxton 91 



PREFACE. 



T READ a sermon and delivered an address in 
the South Congregational Meeting-house in 
my native town of Buxton, Maine, on Sunday, the 
15th of August, 1886. 

The circumstances which led to my appearance 
before the congregation assembled on that occasion 
are stated, on a subsequent page, in my remarks 
introductory to the reading of the sermon. 

A bright sun and a clear sky, a serene air and 
a mild temperature, made the day itself delightful. 
The usual Sabbath exercises, the fine weather, and 
the novelty of the occasion combined to fill the 
meeting-house. 

Such occasions, though of local interest merely, 
serve a useful purpose in reminding us of the 
history of the past, of the lives, labours, and con- 
dition of the early settlers of our town, of what 
they did for us, and what we, in our day, should do 
for those who are to come after us. They tend, 
too, to strengthen the ties w T hich bind us to the 
place of our birth, to excite the spirit of patriotism, 
to bring home to us the worth of our civil and 



4 



PREFACE. 



religious institutions, and to stimulate us, if need 
be, to die in their defence. 

Animated by these thoughts and by the hope 
of doing something towards exciting and perpetu- 
ating an interest in the history of the town and 
of the first organized church, I prepared my ad- 
dress and now cause it to be printed. Let it stand 
as an evidence of my loyalty to the place of my 
birth and of my respect for its people; some of 
whom at least, I trust, will find it not altogether 
devoid of interest and instruction. 

It will, at least, serve to refresh the recollections 
of those who heard me, and to remind them of a 
charming day and of a scene and an anniversary 
which they will, I hope, long hold in pleasant 
memory. 

The usual services of the day were conducted 
by the pastor, the Rev. George W. Johnson, with 
the exception that he kindly allowed me to read 
a sermon instead of preaching one himself. 

The address was delivered after the benediction 
and a short recess. 




Cambridge, Mass., 

February 16, 1888. 



REMARKS 



INTRODUCTORY TO THE READING OF THE SERMON. 



T T is proper, I think, for me to explain why I, 
a layman, stand before you in this pulpit 
to-day. 

It has been known to some of my friends for 
several years that I have in my possession the first 
sermon which was preached on this spot. Last May 
I was surprised by a letter which informed me that 
arrangements were making for the reading of that 
sermon here, by myself, in June. I at once replied 
that I could not read it then, but perhaps should 
be willing to do so in August. On reflection I re 
pented of this intimation, and informed my friends 
that I would rather not read it, and suggested to 
them that it would probably be much more agree- 
able to the congregation if the pastor should think 
proper to prepare and preach a sermon with special 
reference to this anniversary occasion. I thought 
that a new sermon written and delivered by him 
would be more acceptable than an old one read by 
myself. I was informed in reply that many wanted 
to hear the old sermon, and to hear it read by me. 
I was too far committed to retreat, and finally 



6 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



consented to read it if agreeable to the church and 
pastor. Their willing consent, as I am informed, 
has been given; and I now appear before you, 
though it would be much more pleasant for me if 
your pastor occupied my place. 

The sermon which I am about to read was the 
first one preached in the meeting-house that was 
first built here, but it has no reference to the occa- 
sion upon which it was delivered. It is on Prayer. 
It consists of two parts from one text, — one part 
being delivered in the forenoon, and the other in 
the afternoon, — and of course one part is not com- 
plete without the other. As I read only the part 
delivered in the forenoon, it will be hardly fair to 
call it the author's sermon, when in fact it is but 
half of it. 1 

If it shall seem to you dry and uninteresting, you 
may lay the fault partly to its incompleteness, partly 
to the youth of the writer, — then not twenty-five 
years old, — and partly to the rather antiquated 
form of the sermon, but mainly to the imperfection 
of my reading and to my embarrassment in appear- 
ing before you under circumstances that are so new 
to me. 

The original sermon is now in my hand ; but I 
read from a copy which is more legible. 

1 The whole sermon is here printed. 



FORENOON SERMON. 



Be careful for Nothing : but in every Thing by Prayer 
and Supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your Requests 
be made known unto God. — Philippians iv. 6. 



D. [As if he had said] Be not anxious and 



impatiently careful for anything ; let not any 
of your worldly Concerns distract or distress your 
Minds ; take a prudent and moderate Care ; procure 
such Things as are fit for your present Comfort and 
Support : but as God is the Sovereign Disposer of 
all Things, and has a tender Concern for all his Ser- 
vants, see to it that you finally cast your Cares and 
Burdens upon him. In all your Cares and in every 
Business, let the Requests and Desires of your 
Souls be made known unto God by Prayer, giv- 
ing Thanks unto him for your past and present 

1 The manuscript is full of contractions, which are here extended. 
The word "favour" (usually spelled "favor" in the United States) is but 
once written out in full, though it often appears as " Fav." I follow 
the author's spelling, and also his practice — the custom of his day — 
in generally beginning the names of all nouns with a capital letter. 
When by " him " and " his " he refers to the Supreme Being, he does 
not begin the words with capital letters. 




8 



FORENOON SERMON. 



Blessings. This is a Christian and wise Behaviour ; 
it is but your reasonable Service, — a just Acknowl- 
edgment of the Being and Perfections, of the Provi- 
dence and Grace, of the Lord of Angels and Men ; 
it is but giving him his Due : for, as we hold All 
from him and expect all future Blessings from the 
same Source, it is but just that we pay him this 
Homage for what we now enjoy, and but wise and 
reasonable that we thus look to him for future 
Good and Happiness. 

From the Words thus paraphrased, we infer the 
Duty and Necessity of praying to God, and of 
finally referring our Concerns to him. 

In speaking to which general Truth, we shall 
consider the several following Propositions : — 

I. The Nature of this Duty of Prayer, in general. 
II. The Fitness and Reasonableness of it. 

III. The Constancy and Particularity or Extent of it; and 

then, 

IV. Say a Word of publick Prayer and Supplication ; and 
V. Of Family Prayer ; and 

VI. Of Secret Prayer. 

I. Firstly, The general Nature of Prayer is to be 
considered. 

Prayer in general consists in confessing to God 
our Wants, and desiring a Supply of them, joined 
with Confession of Sin, and Thanksgiving for Mer- 
cies. The Nature of Prayer, as an Address to 
God, will be explained and understood more fully 
by considering the following particular Parts of it, 



FORENOON SERMON. 



9 



which contain in Substance the Nature of the Duty, 
viz., Invocation, Confession, Petition, and Thanks- 
giving. 

i. Invocation, or Calling upo7^ God. By this we 
acknowledge that God is the only suitable Object 
of religious Worship and Adoration. Under this 
Particular we acknowledge the divine Perfection to 
be infinite, adoring him as worthy of all Praise and 
Service from Men and Angels. By this we acknowl- 
edge him as our Creator and Governour, and confess 
ourselves his natural and proper Subjects, and that 
we are indispensably bound to pay Homage to him 
as our King and Lord, and to observe inviolably 
the Laws of his Kingdom. By this, therefore, we 
avouch the Lord to be our God, and virtually prom- 
ise our Allegiance to him. By this we express our 
deepest Reverence to the King of Heaven, and the 
amazing Distance there is between him and us, and 
his great Condescension in permitting us thus to 
approach him. By this, therefore, we confess it an 
undeserved Privilege to have Admittance into the 
divine Presence and Leave to present our Petitions 
to him. By thus calling upon God, we own our 
Need of Favour from him, and our Insufficiency to 
make ourselves happy without him. By this we 
confess ourselves dependent Creatures who, being 
insufficient for our own Felicity, are obliged to go 
from ourselves to some superior Being, in order to 
obtain Happiness ; for calling upon another implies 
our own Need and Want, and therefore we do 
Honor to God as our Saviour and only Hope. 

2 



IO 



FORENOON SERMON. 



2. Another Branch of Prayer is Confession of 
Sin. It was observed under the former Branch of 
Prayer that we were bound to pay a constant Hom- 
age and Service to God ; which being conscious to 
ourselves we have not perfectly performed, it be- 
comes fit that we confess our Failings, and that 
with Grief and Shame. And as we have not only 
come short of strict Duty, but in many Instances 
actually violated those Laws which we should have 
observed, we must confess these our Transgressions 
in all their heinous and aggravated Circumstances, 
taking all the Shame and Guilt to ourselves, and at 
the same time adore his Grace and undeserved Pa- 
tience with such Rebels. Under this Part of Prayer 
we take a Survey of the Actions of our Lives, com- 
paring them with those Rules by which we should 
have been entirely governed ; and wherein we find 
our Condition to have been irregular we take the 
Iniquity of it to ourselves, and lament our Folly in 
so doing. This Part of Prayer should always be 
accompanied with corresponding Affections, such 
as unfeigned Repentance, godly Sorrow, Humility, 
Self-Abhorrence, and so forth ; with Purposes of a 
more upright Behaviour for the Future. " I have 
done Iniquity ; I will do so no more," is the only 
Language which becomes a penitent Confessor. 
As we have, by the fore-mentioned Failures and 
Transgressions, forfeited all Right to Favour from 
God, and exposed ourselves to the Expression of his 
Displeasure, we penitently implore his Pardon and 
future Favour and Grace ; which leads to say [that] 



FORENOON SERMON. 



3. Another Branch of Prayer is Petition. But 
inasmuch as, by what we have but now said, it 
appears that we deserve no Favour from God be- 
cause of our Iniquity, it seems necessary for our 
Encouragement in this Part of Prayer that we have 
Something besides our own Deserts to plead with 
God for his Mercy. Otherwise we must of Neces- 
sity be in very melancholy Doubt and Suspense ; 
because it is a Matter of very great Moment that 
we in this Case doubt of. Now, in brief, the Ground 
of our Encouragement in our Petitions is the Right- 
eousness of Christ, which is to be pleaded before 
God by Faith. We must, therefore, ask in Faith, 
nothing wavering ; and an Answer of Peace is to be 
expected on the Account of our Saviour's Merits 
only. Under this Branch of Prayer we are to ask 
for Pardon of past Sin and Grace to enable us to 
walk as becomes the Gospel for the Future; we 
are to intreat the good Spirit of God to enable us 
to hate Sin as an evil Thing and a bitter, odious 
in its Nature, and destructive in its Consequences, 
and to transform us by the renewing of our Minds ; 
we are to pray for Faith, which is the Gift of God ; 
for a firm Belief of, and Assent to, the Gospel of 
Christ ; we are to intreat him to introduce us into 
his Favour for Christ's Sake, — in a Word, we are to 
implore of God to keep us by his Spirit from falling, 
and at last to present us faultless before the Pres- 
ence of his Glory with exceeding Joy. The same 
Things we are also to ask for others. Under this 
Part of Prayer are to be exercised Faith, Importu- 



12 



FORENOON SERMON. 



nity, Ardor, and Constancy ; and by thus Seeking, 
we may expect to find. 

4. Another Branch of Prayer is Thanksgiving. 
We all enjoy many and great Favours which come 
from God, and it is but a fit Return that we 
pay our grateful Acknowledgment to him therefor. 
This Part of Prayer supposes that our Mercies 
flow from the divine Benignity, and that, as he is 
the sole Author of them, the Praise thereof is his 
just Due. While, therefore, we are employed in giv- 
ing Thanks to Heaven with our Lips, our Hearts 
should join therewith. This, indeed, is absolutely 
necessary in all divine Service, that the Sentiments 
and Exercises of the Soul agree with the Language 
of the Lips. Under this Part of Prayer we praise 
God for all the Tokens of his Favour, both with 
Regard to this and a better Life : for his Good- 
ness to us in making us wiser than the Beasts of 
the Field, for making us capable of performing to 
him a reasonable Service, and for the Hopes of 
being made happy by him and of being employed 
in more exalted Services in his Temple above. We 
also praise him for all his providential Goodness in 
providing so liberally for the Support and Comfort 
of our outward Man, withal intreating him to con- 
tinue these his Favours to us, and to give us Wis- 
dom rightly to improve them. These are the four 
general Parts of Prayer to which all the Branches 
thereof may be reduced, and in which they may 
be comprised. 

II. We pass to consider the second Proposition: 



FORENOON SERMON. 



13 



The Reasonableness of this Duty. The Fitness and 
Reasonableness of Prayer appears from the Nature 
of it, from the positive Institutions and Precepts 
of God, and from its Efficacy and apparent Ten- 
dency to promote our own Happiness. 1. First, 
The Fitness and Reasonableness of Prayer appears 
from the Nature of the Duty. We are surely de- 
pendent Creatures ; we are obliged to some Being 
greater than ourselves for every Branch of our 
Happiness. What then more fit and reasonable 
than to spread our Wants before the Author of 
all Good, and implore a gracious Supply of them ? 
It is certainly fit that we acknowledge the divine 
Benignity in all the good Things we enjoy. And 
how can this be done more fitly and reverently 
than in Prayer, wherein we professedly declare our 
Wants and Indigency, and ascribe all Perfection 
and Blessedness to God ? It is plainly fit and right 
that we cherish a Sense of the unspeakable Distance 
there is between God and us, in order to our con- 
ducting ourselves with that Reverence and Awe 
towards the divine Beins: that our Relation to him 
and our Distance from him require. What then 
more fit than Prayer, wmerein we survey and ac- 
knowledge the infinite Perfections of God ? This 
tends to sink us into a becoming Sense of our 
Littleness and of God's Immensity; and this natu- 
rally begets within us that Dread of God's Majesty 
and that Fear of his Excellence which should al- 
ways influence our Conduct. And as we have all 
more or less acted unworthy our Relation to God, 



14 



FORENOON SERMON. 



it is but just that we confess this our Folly and 
Unhappiness, taking all the Iniquity and Shame of 
it to ourselves. Not to acknowledge our Offences 
against God would be to add Iniquity to Sin. This 
would be the Way to provoke the holy one of 
Israel to vindicate the Honor of his broken Laws 
by inflicting upon us awful and deserved Ruin. 
Repentance towards God whom we have offended 
is fit and suitable in the Nature of Things ; and 
hearty Sorrow for all our Misconduct before God 
is very becoming us, and fit and necessary according 
to the Constitution of Things, in order to our being 
pardoned and received into Favour with God. And 
therefore Confession of Sin, with corresponding 
Penitency, Sorrow, and Humility of Soul, is but a 
Part of our reasonable Service to God. Again, it 
is plainly fit and right that when Favours have been 
received, grateful Returns should be made ; a Con- 
dition different from this would be unreasonable 
and brutish, and base Ingratitude. Our Thanks- 
giving, therefore, to God for his Goodness is a 
reasonable and fit Conduct towards the Author of 
all our Mercies ; for verily, it is a good Thing to 
give Thanks ; and it is a very pleasant part of divine 
Worship to every grateful Soul, to sing the Praises 
of the Most High, and talk of all his wondrous 
Works. Great and marvellous are thy Works, 
Lord God Almighty ! O Lord, how manifold are 
thy Works! Abundantly merciful is God, and kind 
even to the Evil and Unthankful ; his Goodness is 
over all his Works; praise him, therefore, all ye 



FORENOON SERMON. 



15 



People, and let all the Nations of the Earth praise 
him. But 

2. Secondly, The Fitness and Reasonableness of 
Prayer appears from the divine Command. " Be- 
hold, I have commanded you," or, " Thus saith the 
Lord," is of more Authority than all the human 
Reasons in the World ; for God has an absolute 
Right to command us, and we are indispensably 
bound to obey him ; and therefore, although we 
should be unable to see the full Reasonableness and 
Fitness of any of the divine Precepts, yet, if we are 
certain the Command is from God, we must regard 
it; because we know that there is a Reason for 
it in the divine Mind : being certain that infinite 
Wisdom and Goodness cannot act unwisely or un- 
kindly. The Commands of God are to be therefore 
esteemed, as they indeed are, holy, just, and good, 
and intirely right concerning all Things. But you 
are not to imagine — notwithstanding what I have 
now said — that the Reason and Nature of the 
divine Precepts are so far remote from our Capacity 
as not to be in a good Measure understood by us. 
I have endeavored to show the Reasonableness of 
Prayer under the former Particular, from the Nature 
of it, without having Recourse to the divine Com- 
mand concerning it. What I have now said of 
God's absolute Sovereignty over us was to convince 
you of the Fitness of our obeying all his Precepts 
when once known to be from him, although we 
should not be intirely and fully acquainted with the 
Reason of them and their Tendency to promote 



i6 



FORENOON SERMON. 



God's Honor and our Happiness, viewed in their 
own Nature. So a dutiful Child obeys his Father's 
Commands although he does not always see the 
Wisdom of them. However, the Commands of God 
are most, if not all of them, level to our Capacities, 
so far that if we study them as we ought we shall 
find they naturally tend to advance the Glory of 
God and the Good of Man ; and therefore we see 
the indispensable Necessity of keeping them. But 
we now observe that Prayer is a commanded Duty, 
and therefore fit and reasonable. That Prayer is a 
commanded Duty is evident from Scripture in many 
Places. " Pray without ceasing," says the Apostle 
(i Thess. v. 17); and again, Timothy says : "I will 
therefore that Men pray everywhere" (1 Tim. ii. 8). 
To refuse to comply with this Duty is to omit a 
plain Injunction of God and to rob him of his just 
Dues ; it is to refuse to have God to reign over us ; 
it is renouncing our Relation to him as our Lord and 
Redeemer, and exposing ourselves to the executive 
Displeasure of that God who will be honored by all 
his Children, and who will show his awful Displeasure 
against such as call not upon his Name. Again, 

3. Thirdly, The Reasonableness and Fitness of 
Prayer appears from its Efficacy to promote our 
best Interests. 

We have already considered Prayer as reasonable 
in its own Nature, and also as positively enjoined 
by God, from whence it appears that it tends to 
promote our Felicity : for if it is reasonable in itself 
and also commanded by God, it is evidently our 



FORENOON SERMON. 



17 



Duty, with which our Happiness is inseparably con- 
nected ; for we serve a Being who has made our 
Duty and Happiness the same ; so that to talk of 
Happiness out of the Way of Duty is preposterous, 
or of Duty which does not lead to Happiness : so it 
is plain that Prayer tends to advance our Felicity. 
By this we are naturally led to the Fountain of all 
Good, and made to look to him as the only Happi- 
ness of Mankind. By this we seek — and as it were 
bespeak — the Friendship of that Being who is able 
to do abundantly for us " above all that we ask or 
think." It appears from holy Writ that this Duty 
tends greatly to promote our Peace and Comfort. 
" Call upon me in the Day of Trouble," says God, 
and "I will deliver thee"(Ps. 1. 15). And when 
the Apostle, in our Text, had urged the Philippians 
in every Thing by Prayer and Supplication, with 
Thanksgiving, to let their Requests be made known 
unto God, he adds, in the next Verse: "And the 
Peace of God, which passeth all Understanding, 
shall keep your Hearts and Minds through Christ 
Jesus." 

A firm Persuasion of God's Readiness to supply 
our Wants and pity our Distresses is a Ground 
of great Peace and Serenity to all who thus be- 
lievingly spread their Case before him. When we 
are thus enabled to pray and submit our Cause 
to God, we do with great Satisfaction rest and de- 
pend on his Goodness for a gracious Answer. 

It is doubtless a very great Comfort to all pious 
Persons that in all Cases of Difficulty and Distress 

3 



i8 



FORENOON SERMON. 



they may apply themselves to a gracious and prayer- 
hearing God, and commit their Souls into his Hands. 
It is plain Prayer is an happy Privilege as well as 
Duty, by the many successful Petitions we have 
recorded for our Encouragement in Scripture. How 
often do we find there Judgments turned away and 
Blessings obtained by fervent Prayer ! How often 
was Moses called to stand between a provoked God 
and a rebellious People, and by Prayer to turn away 
the fierce Anger of Heaven from them ! How gra- 
ciously was God pleased to turn from the Fierce- 
ness of his Anger towards the Ninevites, and save 
that mighty City upon the Fasting and Praying of 
the Inhabitants thereof, although he had before 
declared, by his Prophet, that Nineveh within forty 
Days should be ruined. And our Saviour, in one of 
his Parables, very strikingly represents the Efficacy 
of Prayer. It is in the Parable of the unjust Judge 
and the Widow, who obtained her Request of him 
by Importunity and Fervency, although he is repre- 
sented as not fearing God (see 18th of Luke). By 
such Examples and Representations of the Efficacy 
of Prayer we should be encouraged to pray always 
and not faint. Let this scriptural Light suffice to 
show the Reasonableness and Wisdom of Prayer to 
God ; and if we were to view Prayer in itself as an 
excellent, divine, pleasurable Duty, and as implying 
our Devotion to God, we should find it of an happy 
moral Tendency. 

III. [Under the third general Proposition] we 
consider the Fitness and Necessity of being constant 



FORENOON SERMON. 



19 



and particular in Prayer. " In every Thing by 
Prayer and Supplication, with Thanksgiving, let 
your Requests be made known unto God." We 
have shown Prayer in general to be wise and fit 
from the Nature of the Duty, from the positive 
Injunction of God, and from its Tendency to pro- 
mote our own Felicity. Now, as the general Rea- 
sons for Praying at all are always the same, it is fit 
and necessary that we be constant in this Duty. 
There is the same Reason for serving God to-day 
that made it fit we should serve him yesterday ; so 
that, if we would be accepted in Prayer, we must 
make it the daily Business of our Lives. 

We are commanded also to be particular in 
Prayers, and to make all our Requests known unto 
God, and to pour out our whole Soul before him. 
This tends to beget within us a Temper of Mind 
suited to the various Parts of Prayer. If we are 
particular in surveying all our Faults and in enumer- 
ating all our Iniquities before God, it will tend to 
promote great Humility and true Repentance for 
so numerous and so vile Miscarriages as we shall 
see ourselves to have been guilty of. If we are 
particular in petitioning for all the Mercies we 
stand in Need of, it will tend to show us how 
greatly we need the divine Favour, and how much 
we are indebted to God for our daily Mercies ; 
and by dwelling on the various Instances of his 
Goodness in our Thanksgiving, we naturally cher- 
ish a grateful Disposition of Soul and a Sense of 
the divine Goodness which we so richly share in. 



20 



FORENOON SERMON. 



Without Constancy in Prayer we should be exposed 
to a Forgetfulness of God, and be apt to lose that 
constant Sense of him, as knowing our Thoughts 
and all our Actions, which should always influence 
our whole Conduct. And by losing this Sense of 
the Deity we soon begin to live as without God in 
the World ; and this is a very unhappy State. After 
we once forget God by omitting plain Duty towards 
him, we presently become daring enough to vio- 
late his Laws. For if we can receive his Favours 
without Gratitude, and omit our daily Duty to him 
and our just Acknowledgment of his Goodness, we 
easily learn to trample upon his Authority and de- 
spise his Laws. One Sin is not alone, commonly ; 
and when we have learned to omit Duty and cast 
aside the Fear of God, there is a Door open to all 
Manner of Sin and Mischief. Now, a constant 
Sense of the all-seeing Eye of God, and of our 
Accountableness to him for all our Conduct, is an 
happy Preservative against these Evils ; and there- 
fore constant Communion with God by Prayer is 
very wise and fit, and not to be omitted but with 
great Danger and Hazard. 

Think of this, ye that forget God by prayerless 
Lives ! 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



T TAVING spoken of Prayer in general and 
briefly shown its Nature and Design, with 
its Fitness and Reasonableness, and offered some 
Considerations for being constant and particular in 
this Duty, I now pass to say a Word of some of the 
several Kinds of Prayer as they are distinguished 
by different Names, with Regard to the Time and 
Place and Circumstances in which it is performed ; 
and first of publick Prayer, which falls under the 
fourth general Head. 

IV. Publick Prayer and Supplication. Our 
blessed Lord has graciously introduced the Advan- 
tages of Society to Religion ; for as secret Worship 
has several peculiar Advantages in it, so has social. 
Now, it is plain that among other Parts of social 
Worship Prayer is one; and that by Scripture, under 
the former Dispensation, it was Part of the Priest's 
Office to attend upon the daily Sacrifices, and there, 
in Behalf of the People, to present their Prayers 
and Supplications to God. And it is observable 
that while the Priest was burning Incense within 
the Temple, the whole of the People stood without, 



22 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



praying; and no Doubt, says one (Doddridge), it 
was a Part of the Priest's Duty to concur in the 
Devotions which in their Name he presented before 
God (Luke i. 9-13). And it is said of that great 
Multitude which was converted by the Preaching of 
the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost that they con- 
tinued stedfastly in the Apostolick Doctrine and 
Fellowship, and in Breaking of Bread, and in Prayer 
(Acts ii. 42). It appears to have been the Practice 
of the Apostles and their Disciples frequently to 
meet together for social and publick Prayer. And 
when Peter was freed from his Chains and led out 
of Prison by an Angel, the first Thing he did was 
to resort to such a social Meeting for religious 
Worship, viz., to the House of Mary the Mother of 
John, whose Sirname was Mark, where many were 
gathered together, praying (Acts xii. 12). And 
when Paul and Silas were at Philippi on the Sab- 
bath Day, they " went out of the City by a River- 
side, where Prayer was wont to be made " (Acts 
xvi. 13). And the Psalmist is often speaking of 
praising God in publick and in the Assembly of 
his Saints, etc., which was his great Joy and De- 
light. " I will give thee Thanks in the great Con- 
gregation : I will praise thee among much People " 
(Ps. xxxv. 18); and again, in the 122. Psalm: "I 
was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into 
the House of the Lord. Our Feet shall stand within 
thy Gates, O Jerusalem. Whither the Tribes go 
up, the Tribes of the Lord, unto the Testimony of 
Israel, to give Thanks unto the Name of the Lord." 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



23 



From the Whole it appears abundantly evident that 
publick Prayer is scriptural, being proved by Pre- 
cept and Example. 

Having thus shown publick Prayer to be a Duty, 
I shall conclude what I have to say under this 
general Head by briefly showing some of the 
Advantages thereof. 

First, Publick Prayer may be supposed to be very 
useful for the Instruction of many who join therein. 
In all publick Assemblies for divine Worship the 
whole Congregation should join with him who leads 
therein ; and while one is the Mouth of the Rest 
they should join in Spirit and Heart with him and 
intreat God graciously to accept of his Prayer in 
their Behalf. Now, in many of our Assemblies it is 
to be supposed there are some who have had but 
little Opportunity for religious Improvement and 
few Advantages to gain Wisdom and Instruction. 
It is then manifestly advantageous to such to be 
assisted in making suitable Petitions to God, and in 
addressing him in Language which becomes the 
Relation we stand in to him. By this they are 
assisted in forming their Conceptions of the Deity. 
Hence they learn with what Reverence and Ven- 
eration of Soul it becomes them to address the in- 
finite Majesty of Heaven ; hence they are informed 
with what Prostration and Abasement of Spirit they 
should enter the divine Presence ; hence they learn 
their Unhappiness without the Favour of God, and 
the Wisdom and Suitableness of Seeking him as 
their God and Portion, — in a Word, by this they 



24 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



are assisted to form just Conceptions of the Nature, 
Design, and Importance of Prayer and religious 
Worship. 

Secondly, Publick Prayer tends to excite the De- 
votion of all concerned therein and whose Business 
it is to join in the Worship. In whatsoever Em- 
ployment Numbers are engaged, they assist and 
animate one another. So it is in religious Exer- 
cises; and as Prayer is one of the most devotional 
Parts of religious Worship, Numbers joined therein 
greatly animate and assist one another's Devotions 
and pious Affections. To see and be engaged 
among^ a large Assembly of reasonable and immortal 
Creatures all devoutly fixed in making their solemn 
Addresses to the one eternal Jehovah, all imploring 
by one Mouth and with one Heart the same Fa- 
vours and deprecating the same Misery and Wrath, 
is one of the most agreeable Sights under Heaven, 
and greatly encouraging and animating to all true 
Christians ; to all who have the Happiness of joining 
therein. And when at such Times we consider our- 
selves as seeking Favours of the most exalted Kind 
and which are to last forever, and that we are 
worshiping that Being who is ready to bestow these 
immortal Favours upon all who seek them in a right 
Manner, and also that we have Reason to think that 
we are serving him in an acceptable Sort, one 
would think it would raise Devotion in the coldest 
Heart and blow every Spark of divine Love into a 
Flame. To join in the Services and Praises of the 
King of Heaven in his Temple here below with 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



25 



devoutly pious Hearts seems an Emblem of those 
Joys and Services which will be the Delight and 
Happiness of the Saints and Angels when the 
Assembly shall be compleat in the World above. 
And when Numbers are thus piously engaged in 
praying to and praising God, the Fixedness and 
Devotion which is observable in the Faces of all 
around as it were catches from one to another till 
the Flame of Devotion and Zeal becomes general. 

But it is time that I pass to our fifth general 
Head, and say Something of Family Prayer. 

V. Family Prayer is another Kind into which 
Prayer in general is divided. Family Prayer, in so 
many Words, is not, as I remember, expressly com- 
manded in Scripture ; but then it may be very 
justly inferred from many Passages thereof that it 
is a Duty and well-pleasing in the Sight of God. 
We are frequently injoined in Scripture a constant 
Care to bring up our Children in the Nurture and 
Admonition of the Lord, to train them up in the 
Way they should walk, etc. ; and as Parents are 
doubtless to instruct their Children by Example as 
well as Precept, they are bound to pray with and for 
them ; for Prayer being an indispensable Duty, they 
are bound to teach their Children the Nature and 
Importance of it ; which cannot be done any Way 
so effectually as being constant in the Duty them- 
selves, for the Example of a Parent has a most 
powerful Influence with Children : and although 
Parents should now and then tell their Children 
that Prayer to God is an indispensable Duty, and 

4 



26 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



that they can never expect his Blessing without 
humbly and fervently seeking it, yet if they neglect 
the Duty themselves and practically disbelieve the 
Necessity and Importance of it, they have little or 
no Reason to expect their Children should act 
otherwise : and therefore it is evidently hazardous 
to neglect this Family Worship, for it is plainly 
acting unreasonably, and omitting that Duty which 
evidently tends to their and their Children's best 
Happiness. 

But there are other Texts of Scripture which 
more immediately recommend Family Religion, of 
which Prayer is a great Part. It is recorded in 
Praise of the pious Joshua that he resolved that he 
with his House would serve the Lord (Joshua xxiv. 
15); and of Cornelius that he was a devout Man, 
and one that feared God with all his House and 
gave much Alms to the People and prayed to God 
alway (Acts x. 2); and of the pious Psalmist, that 
he would walk in his House with a perfect Heart 
(Ps. ci. 2). From these and such like Texts it 
appears that Family Religion and Prayer is very 
scriptural ; it is certainly of very happy Tendency. 
Family Prayer has a natural Influence in solemniz- 
ing the Minds of Children and Servants, and such 
others as join therein. 

Youth is the moulding and turning Age, and 
therefore it is of vast Importance that Children 
be set out in the Paths of Virtue before they be- 
come habituated to vicious Practices. And Family 
Prayer, joined with other and godly Instruction, 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



27 



has a very strong Tendency to recommend Virtue 
and make Sin appear dangerous and vile to Youth ; 
for when Children are thus daily taught that God is 
their Preserver and Redeemer, and that he has an 
absolute and sovereign Right to their Services and 
Praises, and that it is vile and abominable to refrain 
Prayer and grateful Acknowledgment before their 
only Saviour, and that God never can delight in 
such Ingratitude and Disobedience, but that on 
the other Hand he will be graciously found of such 
as love and serve him, they will presently see the 
Beauty and Excellence of Religion and the Base- 
ness and Danger of Sin and Folly. 

But I hasten to say, under the sixth and last 
general Head, a Word of secret Prayer. 

VI. Secret Prayer is another Kind or Division 
of Prayer. " And when thou prayest thou shalt 
not be as the Hypocrites are : for they love to 
pray standing in the Synagogues, and in the Cor- 
ners of the Streets, that they may be seen of 
Men. Verily I say unto you, they have their Re- 
ward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy 
Closet; and when thou hast shut thy Door, pray 
to thy Father which is in Secret; and thy Father, 
which seeth in Secret, shall reward thee openly " 
(Matt. vi. 5, 6). 

The Pharisees, who were very Hypocrites, made 
Pretences to uncommon Piety and Religion ; and by 
the Parade and Show which they made about Re- 
ligion they doubtless deceived many who took them 
to be remarkable Saints and Men of singular Piety 



28 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



and Devotion ; but God, who seeth not as Man 
seeth, discovered their vile Hypocrisy, though veiled 
from the Eyes of Men by the Appearance of extraor- 
dinary Piety, and he abhorred their awful Mockery 
of him. And our blessed Saviour, as though he 
would guard his Disciples against Hypocrisy and 
a Desire of human Applause in their Devotions, 
directs them to pray to God in such Circumstances 
as were free from Temptation to such dreadful 
Mockery. 

By this Precept and the Example of our Saviour 
and of Daniel and others, it appears that secret 
Prayer is acceptable and well-pleasing in the Sight 
of God. And it is evidently a great Privilege, 
which has several Advantages peculiar to itself, as, 
First, In secret Prayer we may be particular in con- 
fessing and bewailing before God such Faults as 
would be unfitly done in private [family ?] or pub lick 
Prayer. Many Faults and Failings we shall find 
ourselves guilty of, if we make diligent Search after 
them, which we should be greatly ashamed to have 
known to the World. Now, in secret Prayer we 
may and ought to lament greatly these Things be- 
fore God which are so vile as to make us blush to 
have the worst of Men privy to them. God knows 
all these Parts of our unworthy Conduct, and it is 
intirely fit that we spread them before him in the 
Abasement of our Souls, intreating him to blot 
them out and remember them not against us. 

Again, In secret Prayer we may be more particular 
and explicit in our Pleading with God for Pardon 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



2 9 



of these Sins, and for Support against Tempta- 
tion of them and of the Sins which most easily 
beset tcs, than would be fit in social Prayer. In 
this secret Communion between God and our own 
Souls we may plead with him the Weakness of our 
Nature and the Goodness of his, and his Grace 
through the Redeemer to pardon our Unworthi- 
ness and strengthen us against Temptation, with 
that particular Freedom and Fervency that might 
be unfit at other Times and [under other] Circum- 
stances. Here we may reveal our whole Souls to 
a kind and gracious God, and lay before him all 
our particular Wants and Desires, and plead be- 
fore him [for] those Aids and Assistances which 
we find ourselves most in Want of. And, for our 
Encouragement in this Duty, we have the Promise 
of him who seeth in Secret that he will reward us 
openly. 

Under this Head of secret Prayer we may men- 
tion ejaculatory Prayer, which is a Kind of sudden 
Petition to God offered up upon any Emergency 
or Difficulty that may happen to us at any Time 
of Life. But this I only mention. It is, however, 
doubtless our Duty on such Occasions, as in all our 
Concerns, to let our Requests be known to God ; 
for we are commanded to pray always and to watch 
unto Prayer, — that is, to cherish a prayerful Tem- 
per and Disposition. 

Having thus briefly and imperfectly spoken to 
the general Heads of our Subject, we pass to some 
Improvement of the Whole. 



3° 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



IMPROVEMENT. 

i. Is Prayer but our reasonable Service, and is it 
in very Deed fit that in all Things by Prayer and 
Supplication, with Thanksgiving, to let our Requests 
be made known unto God, then we learn that 
they who cast off Fear and restrain Prayer before 
God act a very unreasonable Part. This it is very 
plain they do, for they rob God of his just Due 
from them ; and besides, they do, by such a Conduct, 
forsake their own Mercies. By this they forsake 
the true Fountain, and therefore they cannot rea- 
sonably expect that the Lord that made them will 
have any Mercy upon them ; for God has expressly 
declared that he will be sought to for his Mercy. 
And how can such Persons in the Nature of 
Things ever flatter themselves that that God whom 
they practically despise, whose Laws they daily vio- 
late, and whose Precepts they refuse to obey, will 
choose them for his Favourites and make them the 
Subjects of everlasting Favour ? Surely such Per- 
sons run the most awful Hazard of being everlast- 
ingly banished from the Presence of that God who 
will erelong vindicate the Honor of his Government 
in the amazing Ruin of all who are finally impenitent 
and disobedient. A God of Justice will not always 
let the Wicked go free, nor suffer his Goodness to 
be always trampled upon; and they who now refuse 
to regard either Invitations or Threatenings, either 
Mercies or Judgment, have Nothing to expect but 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



31 



that God will suffer them to perish in their Sins, 
and pronounce that dreadful Sentence against them 
which is in Proverbs i. 24-29 : " Because I have 
called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my 
Hand, and no Man regarded ; but ye have set at 
nought all my Counsel, and would none of my 
Reproof: I also will laugh at your Calamity; I will 
mock when your Fear cometh; when your Fear Com- 
eth as Desolation and your Destruction cometh as 
a Whirlwind; when Distress and Anguish cometh 
upon you. Then they shall call upon me, but I 
will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but they 
shall not find me ; for that they hated Knowledge 
and did not choose the Fear of the Lord." 

2. Hence we learn the Wisdom and Safety of 
such as now seek God while he may be found. 
As those who do not seek God act a very un- 
reasonable and foolish Part, so those who do, act 
wisely and safely. They who make it their daily 
Business to seek the Favour of God by Prayer as 
well as by other Means are now steadily pursuing 
their best Interests ; for the Favour of God is Life. 
They are now seeking Reconciliation with him who 
is infinitely able to make them happy in Spite of 
whatever may lay in the Way thereto. The Prize 
which they seek is infinitely worthy in itself, and it 
will last forever ; and they are seeking this Prize 
in the only Way in which it may reasonably be ex- 
pected. And this Exercise of Prayer has a natural 
Tendency, as before observed, to beget within us 
those Qualifications and those Tempers which fit 



3 2 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



us for the Enjoyment of God. It has a natural 
Tendency to make us humble and penitent before 
God, and to beget within us a Care to walk circum- 
spectly and cautiously at all Times ; for Prayer will 
make us leave Sinning, or Sinning will make us 
leave Prayer. That is, the different Acts have a 
Tendency to destroy each other, for being diametri- 
cally opposite they cannot subsist together, which is 
a most unnatural and awful Hypothesis. For if a 
Man sin allowedly, it is the most preposterous and 
presumptuous Thing in the World for him to go to 
God by Prayer for Pardon and for Assistance in 
that pious Course which he has not [begun], nor 
designed to begin. On the Reverse, a Man who 
sincerely and fervently begs Forgiveness of God 
for past Sins, and his Assistance and Direction to 
act wisely and faithfully for the Future, will find this 
has a strong Tendency to make him shun every im- 
pious Act, because he sees it is abominable and 
dreadful Impiety to run freely into that Sin which 
he has implored God's Help to enable him to shun. 
Thus solemn Prayer to God against Sin lays us 
under very sensible Obligations to labor against it. 
And therefore Prayer has a natural, essential, and 
gracious Tendency to make us wiser and better, or, 
in other Words, to promote our best Interests. And 
this shows the Wisdom and Safety of such as make 
Conscience of being punctual and steady in this 
Duty. 

3. Again, Is publick Prayer scriptural, does it pro- 
mote the Instruction and Devotion of such as join 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



33 



therein, then learn the Duty of being fixed and at- 
tentive therein. Your Instructions and Devotions 
will not be increased in publick Prayer unless you 
attend thereto and join fixedly therein ; for how 
can you be instructed by Anything which you do 
not attend to or think upon ? How can your De- 
votions be animated by that of others or by the 
Nature of the Prayer if you attend to neither of 
them, but let your Thoughts run to and fro to the 
Ends of the Earth ? Be persuaded, therefore, to be 
attentive in all Parts of publick Worship. And 
remember that not only he that is your Mouth or 
that leads in Prayer is obliged to be fixed and en- 
gaged, but that you must join with him if you 
would profit by it; for it is Mockery to wait on 
God with your Body while your Heart is far from 
him. 

4. Is Family Prayer practical, does it tend to 
keep a solemn and reverent Sense of God upon your 
own Minds, — I speak to Parents, — and does it 
greatly tend to promote Seriousness and Piety in 
Youth, then let all Parents remember that they neg- 
lect this Duty at their dreadful Peril. You who 
omit this Duty neglect that which tends greatly 
to the Peace of your own Conscience and the Re- 
ligion and Happiness of your Children and other 
Domesticks. Parents or Heads of Families are 
wont to make Excuses for their Omission of this 
Duty which are by no Means sufficient justly to 
excuse them. To say they have some in the Family 
who will not submit to this Duty is no just Reason 

5 



34 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



for the Omission of it ; for they are Masters and 
Heads of the Family, and they must govern it both 
in Spirituals and Temporals in such a Manner as 
appears most scriptural and acceptable to God. To 
say they are unlearned and incapable of putting up 
their Petitions in a fit Manner cannot be supposed 
a sufficient Excuse for such as live in a Christian 
Land and who have their Bibles in their Hands. 
Besides, you must remember that Sincerity is what 
God looks at, and an unlearned Man may be as 
sincere as any. But if indeed you are greatly igno- 
rant both as to the Matter and Manner of Prayer, 
you have more abundant Reason to pray to God to 
enlighten you and assist you in becoming acquainted 
with your own Wants ; and this by assisting your 
Studies of the Scriptures and of your own Hearts. 
You must remember that it is a good Prayer to 
desire of God that you may be enabled to pray. I 
think I have heard of a Minister who visited one of 
his Hearers who did not perform Family Worship 
and Prayer, with a full Purpose to make him pray 
before he left the House. The Man was surprized at 
his Minister's Resolution, but seeing he would take 
no Denial he lifted up his Eyes to Heaven with 
these or like Words : " Lord, teach me to pray, for I 
cannot pray of myself." The Minister was well sat- 
isfied with the Success of his Visit, and I think that 
the Man became serious and devout from that Day. 
Let this excite others to go to God and do likewise. 
Christian Regularity in a Family is a most pleasing 
Sight. How pleasant it is to see Brethren and 



AFTERNOON SERMON. 



35 



Parents and Families dwell in Christian Union! 
And when can we expect a general Reformation 
unless it is begun in Families ; unless Children are 
trained up in the Ways of Piety ? 

I might observe that as secret Prayer is a Duty 
and Privilege, we should be much in communing 
with God in Prayer and our own Hearts by Medi- 
tation. As you love your own Souls, regard the 
Honor of God and the Happiness of the rising 
Generation, I would exhort you who are Parents 
to think of these Things ; and may all learn the 
Importance of Prayer. 

" Consider what I say ; and the Lord give thee 
Understanding in all Things." 



On the following leaf is a fac-simile of the last page of the 
sermon, in the handwriting of Dr. Coffin. 

The note at the bottom of it is as follows : — 

Narrag: N? I. Sept: 6. 1761. A. et P. M. 

Ibid, Aug: 15. 1762. The first Serm: y* were deliver'd in | [the] 

Meeting-House. 
Ibid, March 2. 1766. Buxton '—4 [1804]. 




NOTE. 



j*~**f- / * jLm ~^ a ~ y*^^ ^ 



y+-J*uy. &y ^r^Ve o^i^- 



ADDRESS 



BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



N Sunday morning, the 15th of August, 1762, 



one hundred and twenty-four years ago this 
day, the early settlers of Buxton, then called Nar- 
raganset No. 1, with their wives, their children, 
and their minister, assembled here to dedicate to 
Almighty God the new meeting-house which their 
hands had builded. Then, in that " tabernacle of 
the congregation," came the people together before 
the Lord, to listen to the first prayer that was of- 
fered, to the first hymn that was sung, and to the 
first sermon that was preached, on this now conse- 
crated spot. 

If we would fully realize the significance and in- 
fluence of this event, its relation to the people then 
and now, and especially to this church and congre- 
gation from that day to this, we must go back to the 
first settlement of the town, and endeavour, by such 
light as we may get from history and tradition, to 
learn something concerning the first settlers, their 
condition and circumstances, their religious privi- 
leges and their minister. This is my theme to-day. 




3« 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



The first settlement of this town probably began 
in 1739; but in 1744 — France having declared 
war against England — the few settlers then here 
left their homes for fear of being attacked by the 
French and Indians. Some of them came back in 
1750 to reoccupy their abandoned homes. Others 
came with them ; and the permanent settlement of 
the town then began, though not without some dread 
still of the war-whoop and the scalping-knife. They 
came, the men and the women, with little else than 
stout hands and brave hearts, to encounter the toils 
and endure the privations of the wilderness. 

For the first year or two they must have de- 
pended much upon Saco for their provisions, which 
came up the river by boat to Union Falls, or were 
brought on foot or on horseback, by cart or by sled, 
over roughest roads. 

When the meeting-house was erected, the ear- 
liest settlers (1750) had been here twelve years. 
During that time the inhabitants had built saw- 
mills and a grist-mill, had improved the roads, and 
in various ways were in a better condition than at 
first. The most of them, even then, must have 
been living in log houses or in rough framed ones 
that were little, if any, better ; and it is safe to say 
that at that date not a house in town had been 
painted inside or out, and that no room had been 
plastered. It is probable that but few houses had 
more than a dozen panes of glass, and that some 
of them had none, but obtained the light of day 
through the doorway and through an aperture in 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



39 



the wall which was closed at night. The rude 
houses did not lack ventilation. In winter weather 
the outer air, entering through a thousand cracks 
and crannies, was drawn with speed to the vast 
open fireplace, whence it ascended in flame and 
smoke through the capacious chimney, and de- 
parted with a loud but pleasing roar to cool itself 
in the heavens above. Against this rush of cold 
air, the old-fashioned settle, with its back rising 
above the head of the sitter, afforded a grateful 
and needed protection. 

The furniture consisted almost solely of articles 
of prime necessity. Chairs were few ; benches and 
logs of wood cut to a proper height for seats were 
common. Pewter dishes were common for those 
who could afford them, and wooden trenchers for 
those who could not. Knives and forks were in 
scant supply, and spoons were of iron and of pew- 
ter instead of silver. Crockery then came from 
England, was dear, and being easily broken was 
too costly for general use ; but articles of common 
earthenware made by the potter in some neigh- 
bouring town, we may presume, were obtainable and 
within the means of the settler. In a word, the 
poorest house in town to-day is probably better 
furnished than the best one was then. 

The farming utensils, so far as they were made 
of wood, were manufactured by the settler him- 
self or by some neighbour who had special skill in 
that direction. The axe, the hoe, the coulter and 
ploughshare, the ox-chain, the drawing-knife, and 



4-0 ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 

most other implements of iron or steel were spe- 
cially ordered from the blacksmith. The cooking 
utensils consisted only of those things which were 
of use in the oven or by an open fire. The bread 
was baked in an oven or on a board before the fire, 
or in that very convenient article for various uses 
called in my boyhood the Dutch oven. It is a flat- 
bottomed iron kettle sitting upon legs, and having 
a heavy, slightly convex iron cover with a handle 
in the centre, and a rim. This was set on the 
hearth, with coals and ashes above and below. 
Sometimes, too, as I myself have seen it, the dough 
was protected by cabbage-leaves and put upon the 
hot hearth in a place scraped out for the purpose, 
and then covered with ashes. 

The turkey, the sirloin, and the sparerib were 
cooked to perfection by attaching them to a string 
suspended before the fire and keeping them re- 
volving by the twisting and untwisting of the 
string. Much of the food was cooked by boiling 
in an iron pot, which hung over the fire and was 
suspended by pot-hooks from an iron crane or, in 
lack of a crane, from a pole which ran across the 
chimney. 

In the earliest years of the settlement corn and 
wheat were sometimes scarce, and the settlers " were 
forced to cut their bread very thin ; " but at the 
time of which I am speaking those who came first 
had cattle and swine, and were doubtless raising 
good crops from the virgin soil and getting bread 
and meat enough to last them through the year 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



41 



and to enable them to spare something for the new- 
comers. At certain seasons of the year salmon 
abounded ; for then no obstructions impeded their 
passage from the mouth of the river to its 
sources. This fine fish, whether fresh, pickled, or 
smoked, was a welcome addition to the diet of the 
inhabitants. 1 

They were also, doubtless, beginning to raise 
some wool and flax, which were spun and woven 
into cloth by the women ; whose instruments of 
music were not then the piano, the harp, and the 
organ, but the big wheel for the wool, and the lit- 
tle wheel for the flax, and the noisy looms which 

" Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and the song 
of the maidens." 

And here I hope you will pardon me for going 
a little out of my way to say — what I am proud to 
say — that my blessed mother could card, spin, and 
weave, and that I have myself, in this house, worn 
the cloth which she had spun and woven. 

None of the first settlers had enjoyed any educa- 
tional advantages beyond those furnished by the 
common school ; and many of them, probably, had 
had little even of that. Their children, too, in those 
early days of toil and privation had little oppor- 
tunity for schooling. In the first ten years there 
was no school ; for we are told, on good authority, 

1 In the summer of 1886 salmon made their appearance in Buxton 
after an absence of about seventy years. The water in the river was 
then so low that they could not pass the dam at Bar Mills ; and for 
this reason, probably, none appeared in 1887. 

6 



42 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



that the first one was opened in 1761, and was taught 
by Silas Moody, who was afterwards for many 
years the first settled minister at Arundel, now 
Kennebunkport. 

The spiritual welfare of the settlers was not neg- 
lected. It was a subject of thought and action 
from the very beginning of the settlement. In 
1739, when there were very few, if any, settlers here, 
but when an earnest attempt at settlement was 
about to be made, a committee was appointed to 
select a site for a meeting-house, and, in the lan- 
guage of the vote, " to agree with some person or 
persons to Clere Som Land on the westerly end of 
the first or Second Lots Known by the Letter D. 
in the first Devision in Said Township to build a 
meeting House on, for the Publick worship of God 
of the Contents of thirty feet long & Twenty five 
feet wide & nine feet Stud of hune timber & the 
Roof to be borded & Short Shingled & the said 
Committee are to have said House well finished fit 
to preach in by the Last Day of September which 
will be in the year 1 740." There was delay in carry- 
ing this vote into effect ; but the meeting-house was 
erected late in 1742, or early in 1743. 

It stood on the hill at Salmon Falls, near where 
the house of Mr. Ansel Merrill now stands. In that 
meeting-house, after 1 750, Timothy White 1 preached 
six months or more, Josua Tufts 2 two years, and 
Paul Coffin about eighteen months. A Mr. Thomp- 

1 Minister at Nantucket ; died 1763 ; graduated at Harvard, 1720. 

2 A graduate of Harvard, 1736. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



43 



son 1 is said also to have preached in town about 
this time ; and some others, whose names are not 
recorded, probably preached one or more Sabbaths 
in the log meeting-house. If it were out of repair, 
or the weather cold, meetings were held in the 
house of Lieutenant Samuel Merrill, which was 
close by; and in consideration of his allowing his 
house so to be used, the Proprietors gave him this 
old log meeting-house when, by the building of a 
new one, it was no longer needed. It had then 
stood about nineteen years. 

On the 2 2d of July, 1760, the- Proprietors voted 
to build a new meeting-house forty-five feet long by 
thirty-five feet wide, and of a proper stud ; and 
Joseph Woodman, Joseph Leavitt, and Jeremiah 
Hill were chosen as a committee to carry the 
vote into effect. A lot on which to build it had 
been procured, and on the 8th of April, i"/6i, was 
conveyed by Isaac Hancock to a committee of 
the Proprietors of the town. It covers not only 
the site of the meeting-house, but also a small 
part of the graveyard and the greater part of the 
common. 

The site is a pleasant one. I never fully realized 
how pleasant it is until, after an absence of many 
years, I came here with your then pastor, the Rev. 
Joseph Bartlett. We walked together from his 
home, entered this house, and ascended to the bel- 

1 I spell this name as I find it in the Memoir of Dr. Coffin by his 
son Charles ; but the person was probably the Rev. William Tompson, 
who in 1728 was ordained and settled in Scarborough, where he died 
in 1759. 



44 ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 

fry. There, pointing out the wide and varied scene 
from the low head of Agamenticus to the lofty 
summit of Mount Washington, and the charming 
combination of hill and dale, of field and woodland, 
he spoke with enthusiasm of the view and of the 
unfailing satisfaction which it afforded him ; and 
when, looking down upon God's acre at our feet, 
he called it a pleasant spot, and said that he 
should be pleased there himself to rest when his 
earthly labours should be finished, it was evident 
that the home of his heart was with his parish- 
ioners here. 

His words impressed me. They invest the land- 
scape with an added charm, and this quiet place of 
the dead, where he now rests, with a more tender 
interest. 

Under the above-mentioned vote the building of 
the meeting-house was begun ; but fourteen months 
afterwards it was still unfinished, for on the 1 2-1 6th 
of November, 1 761, it was voted that " there be raised 
20o£ lawful money to Defrey the Charges that have 
arisen & not yet Paid towards building the meeting- 
house & what shall remain to be Laid out in Glazing 
the meetinghouse ; " and Captain Jeremiah Hill, of 
Biddeford, and Captain Joseph Woodman and Lieu- 
tenant Joshua Woodman, of this place, were chosen 
as a committee to lay out the ^200, and, in the 
language of the vote, " also to Groundpin said meet- 
inghouse." Under this vote the meeting-house was 
so far completed as to be opened for public wor- 
ship on the 15th of August, 1762; but when the 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



45 



first sermon was preached in it, it had neither pulpit 
nor pews, but benches only. 

Having brought to mind the general condition of 
the settlers and of the circumstances by which they 
were surrounded, and knowing the fact that under 
the vote which I have just read a meeting-house was 
here erected by them in 1762, it will be gratifying 
to call them, or most of them, by name. This, for- 
tunately, we are able to do. The names of most of 
them were appended to the call which was given to 
Mr. Coffin to settle with them " in the work of the 
ministry." 

The signers to the call were Humphrey Atkinson, 
John Boynton, John Brooks, Jonathan Clay, Richard 
Clay, Richard Clay, Jr., John Cole, John Bunnell, 
Benjamin Dunnell, John Elden, James Emery, Wil- 
liam Hancock, Timothy Hasaltine, Eleazer Kimball, 
John Lane, Daniel Leavitt, Joseph Leavitt, Samuel 
Leavitt, David Martin, Samuel Merrill, John Nason, 
Ebenezer Redlon, Jacob Redlon, Job Roberts, Sam- 
uel Rolfe, Thomas Sands, Stephen Saflford, Joseph 
Woodman, Nathan Woodman. Add to these the 
names of Isaac Hancock, Ephraim Sands, Joshua 
Woodman, and Michael Woodsum, who were then 
living here, but from absence or some other cause 
did not sign the call, and we have a nearly, and per- 
haps a quite, perfect list of all heads of families who 
were then settlers in this town. One or more of 
those who signed were perhaps not then heads of 
families. I have read thirty-three names in all. In 



4 6 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS W00DMAX. 



addition to these there may have been, and prob- 
ably were, a few who beins; unmarried and not land- 
holders did not sign the call. 

Nearly all of those whose names I have read 
settled in this part of the town because it was the 
nearest part to Saco, was the part first surveyed into 
lots, and because they were, to some extent, pro- 
tected by the soldiers who were stationed at the 
Truck House, which was situated on the bank of 
Saco River a little below Union Falls, in what is 
now Dayton. If you start from the spot where John 
Lanes house probably stood in 1762, and on the site 
of which Mr. Xathan Woodman now lives, and go 
thence by the old but now disused road to Salmon 
Falls, and then by the way of Pleasant Point to 
Union Falls, and then northeasterly to the Beech 
Plain Road and by that road to this place, you will 
have made a circuit which either includes or passes 
near to the homes of most of the settlers of that 
day. 

They were generally husbandmen ; but John 
Boynton was a blacksmith, Ephraim Sands a car- 
penter, and Stephen S afford a tailor. 

It is said on °;ood authority that there were then 
less than thirty families in town. Reckoning six to 
a family, which is probably not too large for those 
prolific days, and for thirty families we have one 
hundred and eisrhty individuals ; or if we reckon 
that each of the thirty-three persons whose names 
I have read had a family, then we have a population 
of one hundred and ninety-eiffht It cannot be far 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



47 



out of the way to call the population two hundred 
at the time of which I am speaking. Most of those 
who were old enough would be interested to attend 
the first meeting in the new meeting-house ; and we 
may estimate that from one hundred and twenty-five 
to one hundred and fifty persons were present on 
that occasion. Most of them, doubtless, came on 
foot ; some on horseback, the wife sitting on a pillion 
behind the husband ; and some came, not improb- 
ably, on carts drawn by oxen. There were no 
pleasure carriages here then. The roads were too 
rough for them, and the settlers too poor to buy 
them even if they could have been used. 

No church bell called them together; clocks and 
watches in the new settlement did not tell them of 
the hour; but they well knew how to get to the 
meeting-house in due season. 

On the morning of what we may call the dedi- 
cation the men, the women, and the older children 
came up hither clad in plain garments, which, 
though homespun, were, we trust, neat and clean. 

As they came here on that Sabbath morning, 
which we may hope was cool and calm and bright, 
they must have gazed with pardonable pride and rev- 
erent gladness upon the new house which they were 
about to consecrate, with thanksgiving, to the Lord. 
Rude as it was, it was yet lofty, lightsome, and capa- 
cious, in comparison with the old one of logs, which 
was falling to decay on the hill at Salmon Falls. 

It was customary in those days for the people to 
gather about the doors on pleasant Sabbath morn- 



4 8 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



ings before service began, there to greet each other, 
make friendly inquiries, learn the news, and talk of 
the crops and whatever concerned the common in- 
terest. On this morning the new meeting-house 
was doubtless curiously and carefully examined, 
affording an ample subject for discussion and criti- 
cism as well as for congratulation. 

As the minister entered, the benches were occu- 
pied and decorum prevailed. There was no special 
dedicatory service, yet we doubt not that the house 
was offered to God in prayer and dedicated to His 
worship. The Scriptures were read, a hymn was 
sung, and then the preacher delivered the sermon 
which I have read in your presence to-day. Let us 
hope that they who heard it then and we who have 
heard it now are better for its teachings and for the 
earnest, prayerful spirit which pervades it. 

What though no priest in gorgeous vestments 
led the service, no procession moved with banner 
and crucifix, no acolyte swung the censer to per- 
fume the air with incense, and no pealing anthem 
echoed " through long-drawn aisle and fretted vault," 
yet was the house so dedicated in simple form to 
God no less His temple, and the worship no less 
acceptable in His sight. 

Leaving the house of God with reverent feet, let 
us turn again to those first settlers of whom we 
have already spoken. They were our ancestors, 
and it becomes us to pay to them that respect 
which is their due. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



49 



Of all those who were here when the meeting- 
house of 1762 was erected, no portrait, I think, 
exists except that of the minister ; and their graves, 
with very few exceptions, are unmarked and un- 
known. We know little of their persons, their 
lives, or their characters. We know little of what 
they said here, but we know something of what 
they did here. Within the first sixty years they 
and their children performed an immense work in 
converting a wilderness into fruitful fields, and in 
building and maintaining roads, bridges, school- 
houses, meeting-houses, and mills of various kinds. 
At the end of that time Buxton, in its general as- 
pect, was almost the same that we see it to-day. 
During the last sixty years there has been but little 
change except by the demolition of old and the 
erection of new buildings. 

This great work was theirs. It ought to be 
better- known and appreciated than it is. They 
have gone ; but their work remains as our inheri- 
tance and for our enjoyment. 

Their circumstances were narrow, and some may 
think that their lives were joyless and miserable ; 
but I do not so regard it. They served their day 
and generation faithfully in the position where God 
had placed them ; and we may well believe that they 
were at least as honest and virtuous, as contented 
and happy, as ourselves. Most of them came here 
in the prime of life, vigorous of body, inured to 
labour, and animated with the hope of making for 
themselves and for their families comfortable and 

7 



5o 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



independent homes, and of smoothing the pathway 
of those who should follow them. The men and 
the women who are animated by such hopes, and 
who brave perils and encounter hardships for such 
a purpose, are no ignoble persons. Their strong 
bodies sustain a corresponding spirit ; they are free- 
men who appreciate their individuality and fear to 
look no man in the face. Among them you will 
find heads as sound and hearts as true as anywhere 
in the world. Pressed by the stern necessity of 
daily labour for daily bread, they have little time 
to obtain the knowledge which is to be got from 
books, or to cultivate the graces, the elegances, and 
refinements of a life of leisure ; yet in the substan- 
tial elements of manhood they may be and often 
are the peers of any man. 

Such were the founders of this town ; such were 
the fathers and mothers from whom we are de- 
scended. Let us not forget to honour their memo- 
ries and practise their virtues. 

It is mainly from the ranks of such men, and 
especially from the yeomen who cultivate the soil, 
that ingenuous youth arise and go forth to fill the 
highest positions which man can attain. 

Thank God for such a perennial source of honour, 
of virtue, and of power ! 

Leaving now the first settlers, let us turn once 
more to their meeting-house. You will remember 
my statement that on the day of the dedication it 
was in a very unfinished condition, having neither 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



51 



pulpit nor pews. On the 226. of October, 1766, 
more than four years after the dedication, the Pro- 
prietors voted that a " Part of y e Floor around the 
wall of the MeetingHouse Shou- be Laid out for 
Pew Ground," and a Committee was appointed to 
lay it out, " & Sell as much of it as will underpin 
y e Meeting House or more in order to Build a Pul- 
pit and finish y e House as they Shall See fit." 

Nearly three years after the passage of this vote, 
to wit, on the 5th of July, 1769, the Proprietors 
were warned to meet; and one of the articles of 
the warrant reads thus : — 

" To Chuse a Committee to Lay out y e Pew Ground of 
the meeting [house] in S d TownShip and Sell y e Same to 
Such as will Buy in order to underpin the meeting House 
and Build a Pulpit and to finish the meeting House as far 
as y e money will Go." 

It thus appears that seven years after the meet- 
ing-house was opened it was not underpinned, that 
it had no pulpit and, presumably, no pews. Even 
as late as 1784, it seems that all the intended 
finishing had not been completed ; but at some 
unknown time the pulpit and the pews were put 
in, and it was completed as it stood when taken 
down. 1 

1 When I wrote my address I had forgotten that Mr. Williams, on 
page 19 of his Centennial Address (a. d. 1850), quotes these words 
of Deacon Thomas Merrill : " It was finished outside, but had only 
plank seats on blocks till the year 1790, when it was repaired and 
filled with pews." 

I had also overlooked the fact that I have in my possession a deed 
to Joseph Woodman, Jr. (my grandfather), dated May 3, 1788, from 
"Jacob Bradbury, Esq r ., Thomas Bradbury & Snell Wingate being 



52 ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 

I will now proceed to describe the old meeting- 
house in accordance with the best information 
which I have been able to get after many inquiries. 
I remember, indistinctly, having been in it twice 
myself; but I was then a child, and have no re- 
membrance how it looked inside or out. My de- 
scription is the result of the recollection of five or 
six persons now living. 

By the vote of the Proprietors, as before men- 
tioned, the house was to be forty-five feet long and 
thirty-five feet wide ; and I take it for granted that 
it was built of that size. There was a projection 
from the main building which served as a porch 
and a passage-way to the galleries. The porch 
had two doors, but they were at the ends, and not 
in front as they are in this house ; it was wide 
enough to allow persons entering at either door to 
pass to a central door, which opened upon a broad 
aisle that led directly to the pulpit, and to the gal- 
leries by one of the two flights of stairs. 1 

a committee appointed to finish the Meeting-house," which conveys 
to him pew No. 3, "according to our plan already agreed to, well 
finished, together with the remaining part of said house as usual." 
This last clause is not quite clear, and it seems to me doubtful 
whether the pew No. 3 was then "well finished." 

By another deed, dated November 19, 1798, "Jacob Bradbury, 
Esquire, Messrs. Thomas Bradbury, Snell Wingate and Nathaniel Hill 
in the capacity of committee to finish the Meeting-House, " convey to 
said Woodman pew No. 27, " in the Gallary of the Meeting House 
. . . according as the said Meeting House is now finished." This 
shows that there were pews in the gallery as well as on the floor. 

No notice of this committee appears in the Proprietors' records. The 
meeting-house was probably " filled with pews " a little earlier than 1790. 

1 The stairs were probably built against the southeasterly wall of 
the porch, and came to a common landing at the top. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



53 



Most of the people probably entered the house 
by way of the porch, for it was the pleasantest side ; 
and in it and about the doors they would naturally 
gather for conversation before the minister arrived. 
There was a door in the easterly end of the main 
building, and another directly opposite on the west- 
erly end ; these doors were midway of their re- 
spective sides, but no aisle led directly from the one 
to the other. There was a passage-way on the 
westerly end between the house and the grave- 
yard, so that the door on that side was accessible. 
The pulpit and porch stood towards each other, 
substantially as they do in this house. There was a 
singers' gallery opposite the pulpit, and there were 
two side galleries which were entered from the 
singers' gallery. There were wall pews all around 
the main floor of the house, and an aisle running 
all around between them and the body pews. 
There was a row of pews on each side of the broad 
aisle and on each side of the side aisles, making six 
rows of pews in all. 1 

The seats of the pews, turning on hinges, were 
raised in time of prayer to give more room for 
standing; and the clatter which was made when 
they were dropped at the end of a prayer will 
never be forgotten by those who have heard it. 

1 The pews on the lower floor were surmounted by a balustrade 
composed of small turned balusters six or seven inches in height, 
supporting a rail. The pews in meeting-houses of that day were, I 
think, at least afoot higher than in modern ones. The pews in the 
galleries of the Buxton meeting-house were inferior in finish to those 
below. 



54 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



Everybody then stood in prayer-time, and did not 
use the lazy and irreverent form, now common, of 
sitting while addressing our Heavenly Father. No 
one recollects that the house was painted inside or 
out, unless the roof were an exception, which two 
persons have an impression was red. 1 It was never 
plastered, and never warmed by artificial heat. 
One person remembers that there were heavy beams 
of oak ; and the whole frame was probably of oak, 
the roof, perhaps, excepted. The house was of two 
stories, the upper tier of windows being specially 
needed to light the galleries. The length of the 
old house was about the same as the width of this, 
but it stood at, or nearly at, a right angle to this 
house, so that its length and its roof ran across the 
length of this. If you take off twenty-five feet from 
the rear of this house you will have left just about 
the size of the old house, that is, forty-five by 
thirty-five feet. Then imagine the pulpit standing 
twenty-five feet in front of this one, with galleries 
to the right and left of it, and a singers' gallery 
opposite ; with a broad aisle in front of the pulpit 
and leading to the porch door ; with two rows of 
body pews on each side of the broad aisle, and 
-wall pews all around the house a step higher than 
the others, and an aisle all around between them 
and the body pews ; with sounding-board above 
and a window behind the pulpit ; with the walls 
of the lower story ceiled as high as the galleries ; 
with the frame of the building all exposed above 

1 Mr. Fleming Hill feels very sure that it was. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



55 



the galleries, including the roof ; with an outside 
door at each end, to the right and left of the pulpit, 
— and you will have a good general idea of the 
appearance of the old meeting-house inside. To 
young eyes the sounding-board seemed suspended 
so lightly, almost by a thread, that they feared lest 
it should fall and crush the minister. In the roof 
swallows, not improbably, sometimes built their 
nests, as I remember was the case in the old 
Baptist Meeting-house at Elden's Corner, now 
called Buxton Centre. Indeed the old meeting- 
house here and the old one there seem to me to 
have been constructed on almost exactly the same 
plan. No cupola, belfry, or other structure rose 
above the roof of either. 

The old house was smaller on the ground than 
this, as before stated. There was an open space 
all around it. 1 The area in the rear of the pulpit, 
between the house and the graveyard fence, is re- 
membered to have been some twenty feet in width, 
and to have been used as a place for hitching 
horses. It is now covered by the rear part of this 
house, which tradition says encroaches upon or cov- 
ers a few graves at the northwest corner. 2 The 
open space on the southwesterly end is also re- 
membered as a hitching-place for horses, and as a 
place where people sometimes ate their luncheons 

1 See Appendix. 

2 " Mr. Sands says that when the new house was built the subject of 
covering these graves was often spoken of ; but no one objected, be- 
cause (as he thinks) it was then considered an honor to be buried 
under a church." — Extracted from a Letter of Mr. Marshall. 



56 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



between meetings : it was probably not less than 
twenty feet wide, and was taken into the grave- 
yard when this house was built. 

The precise lines of the foundation of the old 
house are not known. Perhaps, under the floor 
of this house, there are indications which would 
show exactly how the old house stood. 1 The general 
statement, by those who remember it, is that it stood 
where this one stands. Mr. John Dunnell Sands 
thinks it stood farther northeasterly than this one 
does, and no one can say positively that his impres- 
sion is not correct. 2 After considering the matter 
pretty carefully, and looking at all the surroundings, 
I think that if you take thirty-five feet from the 
front part of this house you will have almost ex- 
actly the size and very nearly the position of the old 
house. And if it stood ten feet farther to the north- 
east than this house, still the pulpit, broad aisle, 
singers' gallery, the westerly gallery, and most of the 
pews would be within the bounds of this room. 2 

It is interesting to think and pleasant to believe, 
what there is good ground for believing, that every 
sermon that has been preached, every prayer that 
has been offered, every song that has been sung, 
every baptism that has been administered, and every 

1 Joel M. Marshall, Esq., writes to me under date of December 12, 
1886, that, following my suggestion, he made an examination under 
the meeting-house with a lantern, but found no indication of the foun- 
dations of the old house. This is not strange, as the underpinning 
was probably laid upon the natural surface of the ground. Neither 
did he find any indication of graves. 

2 See Appendix. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



57 



other religious rite or service that has taken place 
on this spot for one hundred and twenty-four years 
has been said or done within the walls of the audi- 
torium where we are now assembled. This helps 
us to realize that we are in the very sanctuary of 
our ancestors, and almost to feel " the touch of a 
vanished hand," and to hear " the sound of a voice 
that is still." 

The thought of all that has happened here awa- 
kens tender memories of the past and adds dig- 
nity and impressiveness to this audience-chamber 
of the Lord. 

Having described the meeting-house, let us linger 
a little beneath its roof and lay upon its altar our 
tribute of respect, veneration, and affection. 

For sixty years it stood here a monument to 
Christianity. During that period all of the first 
settlers, their children, and grandchildren, with 
scarce an exception, must have sat beneath its roof. 
In it the Scriptures were read and the songs of 
Zion heard ; in it the preacher expounded the gos- 
pel of Christ, exposed the sinfulness of sin, exhorted 
to repentance and righteousness, pointed out the 
path of peace, and himself led the way ; in it many 
were admitted as members of the church, and many 
offered their children in baptism. 

Not without emotion do I remember that within 
its walls my mother thus offered three of her sons to 
the Lord, and that the rite was performed by him 
whose sermon I have read in your presence to-day. 

Here the afflicted asked prayers for the sick and 

8 



58 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



the dying, and, when death came, that it might be 
" sanctified to them for their spiritual and ever- 
lasting good. , ' 

Here the first settled minister and his colleague 
were ordained. Here, by way of exchange with 
the first pastor, preached Deane of Portland, Fair- 
field of Saco, Fessenden of Fryeburg, Little of Ken- 
nebunk, and many others of the reverend clergy. 
And here, after a service of fifty-eight years within 
its walls, he who in his young manhood preached 
the first sermon came in the feebleness of age to 
preach his farewell sermon, 1 and to leave his bene- 
diction upon church and congregation ; closing 
with these words of Saint Paul : " Finally, brethren, 
farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one 
mind, live in peace ; and the God of love and peace 
shall be with you." He saw the house erected. 
Death gently spared him the pain of seeing it 
demolished. 

The Rev. Levi Loring was ordained in it, Octo- 
ber 22, 1 8 1 7, as the colleague of Dr. Coffin, and 
preached in it until it ceased to be used. 

Of all the heads of families who saw it erected, 
few, if any, survived to see its removal. Their chil- 
dren and grandchildren had taken the places w 7 hich 
they once occupied, and many of these, from child- 
hood, had known no other place of worship than 
this. Many were attached to it by the holiest and 
tenderest of memories, and could not have seen its 
destruction without deep emotion. 

1 It was preached October 22, 1820. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



59 



Dear old Meeting-house ! Have we not done 
well to recall it, to enter its portals, to linger be- 
neath its roof, mingle with its worshippers, and 
revive the sacred memories which enshrine it ? 
Blessed in its influence while it stood, its influ- 
ence yet survives and falls upon us now. 

Having spoken to you 'of the early inhabitants 
and their meeting-house, it is proper that I now 
speak of their minister, — the first settled minister 
in this town. 

Paul Coffin was born in Newbury, Mass., on the 
27th of January, 1738, 1 in the old Coffin mansion, 
which was also the birthplace of his father and 
grandfather. The house still stands, and is within 
the present limits of Newburyport. He was gradu- 
ated from Harvard College in " the glorious year 
'59" ( I 759)' as ne called it in allusion to the con- 
quest of Quebec by General Wolfe in that year. In 
college he was noticed and distinguished for his 
literary acquirements and correct deportment. Dur- 
ing the years 1759 and 1760 he taught school in the 
towns of Kingston, N. H., and Wells and Bidde 
ford in this State ; and doubtless pursued his theo- 
logical studies at the same time with Joseph Secomb, 
Daniel Little, and Moses Morrill, who were then 
the ministers in those towns. 

On Sunday, the eighth day of February, 1761, 
then being twenty-three years old, he preached for 
the first time in this town. 2 When the meeting- 

1 1737, Old Style. 

2 This fact appears in his sermon No. 975, preached in 1808. 



60 ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 

house was dedicated, in 1762, he had not yet been 
ordained and was not married ; but was married on 
the 10th of November, 1763, to Mary, daughter of 
Nathaniel Gorham, of Charlestown, Mass., who was 
a sea-captain of that place. 

Under date of October 10, 1761, the settlers 
signed a petition which asked that a meeting of the 
Proprietors should be held, which seems to have em- 
bodied also a call to Mr. Coffin to settle with them 
as their minister. 

The desired meeting was held November 12-16, 
1761, and it was voted to give him "fifty Pounds 
Sterling a Year & So Yearly if he See Cause to 
Settle with us in the work of the ministry," and a 
further sum of £100 was voted as an "Encourage- 
ment " for him to settle with them. He continued 
to preach here, but did not formally accept the call 
for more than a year after it was given. 

On the nth of January, 1763, Joseph Woodman 
and Timothy Hasaltine, who had been chosen as a 
committee to wait upon Mr. Coffin with an invita- 
tion from the Proprietors to settle with them as a 
minister of the gospel, reported that they had done 
so and had received his answer in the affirmative ; 
and they then requested the Proprietors to appoint 
a day in the following March for the ordination, and 
to choose a committee to represent them upon that 
occasion. 

In compliance with this request, a meeting of the 
Proprietors was held on the 10th of February, 1763, 
when it was voted that Captain George Jewett, 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 6 1 

Thomas Gage, Esq., and Joseph Leavitt 1 should 
be a committee " To assist in ordaining Mr. Paul 
Coffin as a minister of the Gospell & Pastor of the 
Church that may be Gathered at said Narragansett, 
on the third Wednesday of March next." 

It is difficult to see the reason for selecting the 
month of March, when snows are often deep and 
the roads bad. It was certainly no pleasure-trip 
for the Rev. Messrs. Little and Hemmenway and the 
gentlemen with them, when, coming on snowshoes 
from Wells, they lost their way and were obliged to 
spend the night before the ordination in the woods 
and snow on the other side of the river. 

The ordination took place March 16, 1763, and 
probably within the bounds of this room. A coun- 
cil of the following-named churches convened on 
that day, and probably in a house then owned and 
occupied by Timothy Hasaltine, 2 and which has re- 
cently been removed. It stood within the present 
limits of the graveyard, and was of one story, with a 
chimney in the middle. It faced towards the south, 
and a road then ran in front of it, — in one direction 
to where Mr. Nathan Woodman now lives, and to 
the Duck Pond Road in the other direction. 3 

1 Thomas Gage and George Jewett were of Rowley. Joseph 
Leavitt may have been Joseph of York, or his son Joseph of Buxton. 

2 Charles Coffin (son of Rev. Paul) says that Deacon Hasaltine 
was "from Bradford, Mass., and settled within a few rods of the 
meeting-house." 

3 This road was "three rods wide on the Southerly Side of the 
Sixth lot on the . . . letter G." See Goodwin's Narraganset No. 1, 
page 191. 



62 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



The first business of the council was to see that 
a church was properly organized. The church 
which now exists here had its birth on that day, 
and consisted of seven men, namely: — 

Paul Coffin, the pastor elect. 
Thomas Bradbury. Timothy Hasaltine. 
Thomas Atkinson. John Nason. 
Jacob Bradbury. Samuel Leavit. 

It seems a little singular that no woman was a 
member of the church when it was organized. 
More than a year elapsed before one was admitted, 
and more than another year before the admission of 
the second one. 

The church having been formed, the council pro- 
ceeded to the ordination of the pastor. 

The pastors and delegates of the following-named 
churches were present, namely : The First and Sec- 
ond Churches in Wells, the Church in Biddeford, 
the Church in Pepperrellborough (now Saco), and, 
as stated in the record of the council, " a messenger 
from the Second Church in Scarborough." Parson 
Elkins, the minister of the last-named church, in a 
record made by him, says that he was not able to go, 
but that Mr. Nathaniel Milliken and Mr. Jonathan 
Andrews were chosen as delegates and went. A 
committee of the Proprietors, as voted, was probably 
present. Charles Coffin, a brother of the pastor, 
was there. 

At the ordination the Rev. Mr. Fairfield of Pep- 
perrellborough began with prayer, the Rev. Mr. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



63 



Little of Wells preached, the Rev. Mr. Morrill of 
Biddeford gave the charge, the Rev. Mr. Hemmen- 
way of Wells the right hand of fellowship, and the 
Rev. Mr. Morrill concluded with prayer. 

Mr. Little, in his record, says that the public ser- 
vices began at 12 o'clock, were " Performed with 
decency & Gravity suitable to their Nature and Im- 
portance," that the congregation was dismissed a 
quarter of an hour after two, and that a " very 
Plentiful Entertainment " was provided " for the 
Councill and Strangers." It was provided by John 
Nason and Timothy Hasaltine, who on that day 
or soon after were elected the first deacons of the 
church. 

In regard to Mr. Coffin, I beg leave now to read 
some extracts from a volume edited by your towns- 
man, Mr. Marshall: — 

" Thus was settled for life a young man born and edu- 
cated in polished and literary society, with less than thirty 
families in the town, most of whom were covered from the 
inclemency of the weather by log houses, without a single 
educated parishioner. . . . 

" He was settled for life ; and here through life, on a 
small and at times poorly paid salary, he remained and 
brought up a numerous family. During the eight years' 
war of the Revolution he did not receive twenty dollars in 
specie. But for his farm and his own personal labour 
thereon he would at times not have been able to furnish 
wholesome food and decent clothing for his family. His 
sons, when old enough, assisted him on the farm ; and his 
daughters, besides performing the ordinary work of the 
household, had practical knowledge of carding, spinning, 
and weaving. 



6 4 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



" In the year 1792 he was invited to succeed the learned 
and distinguished Dr. John Tucker, in his native parish." 

This invitation was very gratifying, but his parish- 
ioners wished him to remain with them, and he did 
not accept it. 

" In May, 1799, it was his distinguished privilege to 
preach the annual election sermon in Boston before His 
Honor Moses Gill, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor, the Honor- 
able the Council, Senate, and House of Representatives of 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1 

"In 1 8 12 the title of Doctor of Divinity was conferred 
upon him by his Alma Mater, Harvard College. . . . 

" ' Dr. Coffin was a learned man, and was able to read 
the Scriptures in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, 
to which he added a knowledge of the French. . . . 

" ' With the most enlightened part of the community, as 
a preacher and a gentleman he was not only acceptable 
but sought after and admired. No one in his vicinity, 
during his whole ministry, was more so. . . . 

" ' From a wilderness when he came to Buxton, he lived 
to see it one of the most pleasant and beautiful towns in 
the State, containing nearly three thousand inhabitants ; 
and Maine, from a poor and distant province, he lived to 
see an independent State, and to aid and assist in the 
foundation of Bowdoin College.' " 2 

His wife died December 20, 1803, more than seven- 
teen years before him. She is said to have been " a 
woman of good sense and accomplished manners, 
and of early and constant piety ; " and also " full of 

1 His son Charles says : " He rather avoided than sought distinc- 
tion ; his publications were nothing more than an election sermon, two 
or three ordination sermons, and a few on other occasions." 

2 These extracts are from a brief memoir by his son Charles. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



65 



benevolence and practical chanty to the poor and 
afflicted." 

He died June 6, 182 1. Well do I remember that 
calm June evening when, with my mother and other 
sorrowing relatives, in his pleasant chamber study 
where so many studious hours had been spent, I 
stood, a child, by the bedside of the aged and dy- 
ing pastor. Nor less well do I remember that other 
day, the 8th of June, serene and beautiful, when, 
followed by a long procession on foot of relatives, 
parishioners, and friends, he was borne upon a bier, 
resting upon the shoulders of those who had known 
and honoured him, to his last resting-place under 
the shadow of that old meeting-house which some 
present have not forgotten, and in which for so 
many years he had broken the bread of life. It is 
said that he was exact and particular in all his trans- 
actions, and that, conscious of his own good-will to 
his fellow-men, he never appeared to feel that he had 
a personal enemy. Somewhat prior to 1800 he was 
easy in his circumstances ; and when his colleague 
was chosen he, unrequested, released the parish from 
the payment of his salary. 

" Dr. Coffin, in his person, was of full middling 
size, erect, and perfectly well formed; his counte- 
nance was rather of the Roman cast, expressive 
of intelligence and benignity." Some still live, I 
think, who remember to have seen him in his old 
age upon his white horse, in cocked hat, white 
cravat, and knee-breeches, and probably wearing 
a queue. His portrait represents him in bands, 

9 



66 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



which it was then the custom of the clergy to 
wear in the pulpit, — a custom which he probably 
always followed. 

The influence of a long life so spent as was his 
here in the teaching and in the practice of all the 
virtues which become a man and a Christian can- 
not be overestimated. The living and recognized 
influence is great; but greater is the unseen and 
unknown, but pervasive, influence which goes out 
from a good man and descends from generation to 
generation in ever-widening circles. 

He settled on the farm now occupied by his 
grandson, Charles Little Coffin. There his four- 
teen children were born, of whom eleven lived to 
mature age and of whom nine were married. 

The. grandson just mentioned and his children 
are the only descendants of the pastor now living in 
this town ; and three only of his male descendants 
now bear the family name. 1 

The large two-story house in which he lived and 
died was built by him probably in 1763. It stood 
about one hundred feet south of the house now 
occupied by his above-named grandson. It stood 
end to the road, and there was an outer door at that 
end ; but the front door, on the south side, opened 
pleasantly upon the orchard and garden-lot, whose 
boundaries have not been changed since my recol- 
lection. In front of the house were apple and pear 
trees which, when in full vigour, as I remember them, 

1 One of these three has died since my address was delivered, 
leaving no issue. 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



67 



were pleasant to look upon. The easterly end of 
the house-lot has been used as a garden, as I know, 
for more than sixty years, and probably for more 
than a hundred. I hope that it is as well kept now 
as in the days of my boyhood. 

The good parson had probably, at an early day, a 
better apple orchard than was then common, for 
Stephen Longfellow of Gorham made this record : 
" 1774- April 26. Went to Narragansett and pur- 
chased 16 apple trees of Mr. Coffin @ 3/ O. T. per 
tree." 

The house stood somewhat back from the trav- 
elled way, leaving an inviting grass-plat between the 
end door and the road. The front door, opening 
upon the lawn, was not accessible to carriages, but 
was reached through a handsome gateway. 

The parson's study was the southwesterly room 
in the second story. The west window overlooked 
the road, a field, orchard, and woods, and perhaps, 
when the forest was cut away, afforded a glimpse of 
the river. From it the White Mountains could be 
seen in clear weather ; and from the front windows 
one looked into the pleasant lawn, with its fruit- 
trees, and to the not distant meeting-house. 1 The 
house was of two stories, with a great chimney in 
the middle. There were on the first floor two 
rooms in front, with a large kitchen, an entry- 
way, and one or more small rooms in the rear. I 
remember the vast kitchen fireplace with an oven 
at the back, and room enough for two persons 

1 Distance about one third of a mile. 



68 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



to sit comfortably along one of the jambs. A 
dresser with bright pewter ornamented one side 
of the kitchen. 

When Captain David Coffin, a son of the preacher, 
built the house now occupied by his son Charles, 
the old one was removed about fifty rods, and 
now stands near the house of Mr. Nelson San- 
derson, but on the other side of the way. Exter- 
nally it is little changed from what it was when 
built. The removal made it necessary, of course, 
to take down the old chimney and build a new 
one. The study was the northwesterly chamber 
as the house now stands. 

Many have been the regrets that it was ever 
removed from the pleasant spot where it was built, 
where friends and relatives and all the clergy in 
this part of the State, drawn thither by the hos- 
pitality, culture, and refinement of the learned pas- 
tor and his accomplished wife, enjoyed with them 
the sweet content of a sympathetic and delightful 
social intercourse ; where the parishioners came 
with their troubles, their joys, and their griefs, and 
went not empty away ; where children were born, 
and grew to manhood and womanhood under the 
care, nurture, and pious instructions of their par- 
ents. Marriage, birth, death, the joys and the sor- 
rows of life, had made that old house sacred. 
About its hearthstone lingered memories of all that 
is dearest, sweetest, and holiest in life, — memories 
that are of power to touch the heart as with a coal 
from off the altar of the living God, and to en- 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



6 9 



kindle, preserve, and sanctify the purest devotion 
to home, to country, and to God. 

I have carried you back into the dim days of the 
past, but the past is so indissolubly linked with the 
present that I cannot speak of the one without 
touching upon the other. 

If Paul Coffin had not preached here on the 
15th of August, 1762, we should not be celebrating 
the one hundred and twenty-fourth anniversary of 
that event to-day. If a meeting-house had not stood 
here then, this one would not stand here now. 

This house was erected in 1822, and has already 
stood longer than its predecessor. Externally it is 
the same as when built, except that by the generos- 
ity of a native of the town, Colonel Isaac Emery, a 
bell has found its fit place in the belfry, and now, 
on Sabbath days, sends its greeting and invitation 
to the people. Internally, I miss the loftier pulpit 
and the singers' gallery of my boyhood. I notice 
too that the wall pews which were elevated by a 
step above the others have been brought down to 
the same level. It is not for me to criticise these 
changes, but it would, to my eye, seem more natu- 
ral and more pleasing if they had not been made. 

That this house is now in good repair and at- 
tractive in its appearance is largely due to the zeal- 
ous exertions of one who, though no longer residing 
here, shows that tender ties still bind her to this 
home of her younger days. I need not name her. 
She is known and honoured by us all. 1 

1 Mrs. Margaret (Motley) Bartlett, widow of the Rev. Joseph 
Bartlett. She was present at the delivery of my address. 



7o 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. 



But the changes which I notice in the building 
itself are not those which touch me most. As I 
look around I see not one who helped to plan and 
to build this house ; not one who was then engaged 
in the active business of life ; not one who was then 
a member of this church. But as I look back 
through the dim vista of years that have gone, their 
vanished forms, as in a vision, are again before me. 
Mr. Loring stands tall, lank, and dark in the pul- 
pit, and Master Brown sits with his bass-viol in the 
gallery, — the one making our hearts to quake with 
the terrors of the law, and the other soothing them 
with the sweet tones of music. Once more, walk- 
ing up these aisles, sitting in these pews, standing 
reverently in prayer, I see the men and the women 
who fifty and sixty years ago occupied the places 
which their children and grandchildren occupy now. 
It was a goodly sight to look upon them as they 
gathered here and filled every pew on Sunday 
morning. Many of them, in personal appearance, 
in all that gives support, dignity, and grace to con- 
duct and to character, were at least the equals, and 
many who knew them will say greatly the superiors, 
of us their descendants. 

It would be pleasant to hold them yet longer in 
vision, and to recall their names; but even as I 
speak their shadowy forms arise, depart, and vanish 
forever into the silent land. 

"All, all are gone, the old familiar faces." 

But all is not gone. Life and its duties con- 
tinue ; and though generation follows generation 



ADDRESS BY CYRUS WOODMAN. Jl 

into the " dark backward and abysm of time," yet 
other generations, in God's good providence, come 
to fill the places of the departed, and to take up 
and carry on the work of their hands. Here, dur- 
ing one hundred and twenty-four years, the doc- 
trines of Christ have been preached ; and the voice 
of praise, of prayer, and of thanksgiving has not 
ceased to be heard. The altar then here reared by 
our ancestors, cherished by them, and guarded by 
their children, has come down to us ; and the fire 
then kindled upon it has not yet gone out. 

Let us, their descendants, see to it, and especially 
let those whose lines have fallen in these pleasant 
places see to it, that the altar becomes not desolate ; 
that its fire goes not out ; but that, in the future as 
in the past, the divine flame shall be a lamp to the 
feet and a light to the path of erring man, — a 
" shining light, that shineth more and more unto 
the perfect day." 



APPENDI X. 



I. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1. There are two likenesses of Dr. Coffin here presented. 

They are both after a portrait of him which was 
painted by John Brewster, a deaf-and-dumb brother 
of Dr. Royall Brewster. One, the frontispiece, is an 
engraving on steel by Frederick T. Stuart; and the 
other, facing page 7, is copied from a photograph of 
the painting. 

2. A fac-simile of the last page of the Sermon, facing p. 36. 

3. Another portrait, facing page 37, of which nothing need 

be said except that it is a copy from a photograph 
which was taken in December, 1886. 

4. The full-page view of the meeting-house, facing page 44, 

is from a photograph which was taken June 10, 1887. 

5. The half-page view of the meeting-house, facing page 67, 

is from a photograph which was taken some years 
since by Simon Towle. It is here introduced to show 
the house of Deacon Hasaltine, which faintly appears 



74 



APPENDIX. 



in the background. It was in this house, beyond any 
reasonable doubt, that the " Plentiful Entertainment " 
was given on ordination day, 1763. 

6. The view of Dr. Coffin's house, facing page 67, is 
copied from a photograph taken some years ago by 
Mr. Towle. It now stands about fifty rods distant 
from the original site. It correctly represents the 
main house except as to the chimney, which was 
taken down and rebuilt when the house was moved. 
It is now, I suppose, the oldest house in Buxton. 



7. The plans of the meeting-house lot, following this 
page, are after surveys and maps made by Daniel 
Dennett. 



J-^Ixzn^, showing ^he /oaa&eofi o"ftke 

jVitA reference to ike. boundaries of ihe. 1&& ctf lo/TveL 

UfHnts which ifr is siiixaTed . 

Bnce. Booihfy p £ 132 it. 




From, <t survey by Daniel Dervn&H- } j2u.g us*£, /S 8?l 



/£>" "s" b To zo so +o so so TO so 90 Too 

$cet/e df JReet. 



APPENDIX. 



75 



II. 

THE OLD MEETING-HOUSE AND THE 
MEETING-HOUSE LOT. 



On page 217 of Vol. XXXVI. in the Registry 
of Deeds for York County is the record of a deed 
of which the following is a copy : — 

Know all men by these presents that I Isaac Hancock 
of y e Township called Narragansett N° 1 in y e County of 
York & Province of y e Mass tts bay in New-England Gent 1 
for & in consideration of y e sum of ten pounds Lawfull 
money to me in hand paid before y e Ensealing hereof by 
Jeremiah Hill of Biddeford Gent 1 Joseph Levet of York 
yeoman & Joseph Woodman of y e afores d Township Nar- 
ragansett N° 1 Gent 1 all in y e County afores d & a Committee 
of y e Proprietors of y e afores d Township of Narragansett 
have given granted & sold & do by these presents fully 
freely & absolutely give grant & sell unto them y e s d Jere- 
miah Hill Joseph Leavet & Joseph Woodman in their s d 
capacity & on behalf of y e s d Proprietors a certain tract of 
Land lying in s d township of Narragansett containing one 
acre & an half bounded as follows viz* begining at a Birch 
stub standing Eight rods south west from y e North East 
End of y e Grantors Home Lott where he now Dwells & 
on y e South East side of s d Lott adjoining to y e four rod 
road that leads to Pleasant point Landing thenc runing 



7 6 



APPENDIX. 



North west thirty rods thence riming North East Eight 
rods thence riming South East thirty rods thence riming 
South west Eight rods to y e first bounds s d tract being 
Intended for y e benefit of y e afores d Proprietors to build a 
meeting house upon 

To have & to hold y e s d Granted & bargained Premises 
with all y e Priviledges & commodities to y e same belong- 
ing to them y e s d Jeremiah Hill Joseph Leavett & Joseph 
Woodman in their s d capacity & to y e use & benefit of y e 
s d Proprietors forever. [Here follow the usual covenants 
of warranty, etc.] In witness whereof I y e s d Isaac Han- 
cock have hereunto set my hand & seal this Eighth Day 
of April in y e first year of his Majesties Reign Anno 
Domini 1761 

his 

Isaac + Hancock [L. S.] 

mark 

Signed seal d & Deliv d in presence of us 
John Elden 
Samuel Merrill. 

York ss Biddeford April 28 th 1761 

then y e within named Isaac Hancock personally appear d 

& acknow d y e within Ins 1 to be his free act & Deed 
before me Jonathan Bean Just Peac. 1 

1 The Proprietors, under a vote passed July 22, 1760, probably 
procured from John Cole three acres out of his "home lot" No. 8 of 
Range G, First Division, as a site for the meeting-house, and with 
a view, perhaps, of using most of it for a graveyard. I suppose that 
this three acres was bounded in part by the present common, and 
that the intention was to build the meeting-house on or near the spot 
where the Brewster house now stands. 

It would seem that afterwards the site of the present meeting-house 
was preferred, and that thereupon the Proprietors took a deed for an 
acre and a half from Hancock and gave him by way of exchange the 
three acres which had been at first selected. In the Probate Records 
relating to Hancock's estate this item appears in the Inventory : 
" Three acres of land lying near the Meeting-house, which M r . Hancock 
had in exchange for the land on which the meeting-house stands." 



APPENDIX. 



77 



This acre and a half takes a strip eight rods wide 
from the easterly half of the northeasterly end of 
Lot 2, and from the whole of the northeasterly 
end of Lot 3, of Range E of the First Division of 
lots ; which lots were twenty rods in width. See 
Dennett's map of Buxton, 1870, and Goodwin's 
Narraganset No. 1. 

The original lines and corners of these lots are 
not known ; but in order to determine the bounds 
of the meeting-house lot as nearly as possible, I 
requested Mr. Daniel Dennett, in August, 1886, to 
make a survey of it, which he did in the following 
September, and reported to me, substantially, as 
follows : — 

" Within I enclose a sketch of the meeting-house lot. 
I have two plats made of the size you wished. . . . Per- 
haps I spent more time in rinding the lot than you ex- 
pected, but I could find no mark or monument in the 
vicinity that I considered reliable. Mr. Charles Coffin 
showed a point in the graveyard which he thought was 
a corner of the lot, but, by running, it proved to be erro- 
neous. I called on Mr. J. Dunnell Sands, and he said he 
could show me a corner on his lot, on the east side of the 
road leading to the Peter Emery place, that was settled 
by Court as being on the head line of these lots. To find 
the course to run this line I run out the Pleasant Point 
road, having two points, one at the Chase house and one 
at the end of the old Nat. Came house, as being on the 
southeast line of said road. Having found the exact course 
of this road, I proceeded to run at a right angle from the 
Sands corner to the Meeting-house Lot. This line crosses 
the ground doorstep of the Brewster House, and comes 
within thirty-two inches of the northwest [northeast] 



78 



APPENDIX. 



corner of the meeting-house, and goes about eighteen feet 
into the graveyard. I am satisfied the survey is as correct 
as can be made." 

In another letter he says : " I marked the corners 
with small hubs driven down nearly level with the 
ground." 

The accompanying plan is the result of this sur- 
vey. In August, 1887, Mr. Dennett, at my request, 
made another survey of eight rods square at the 
northwesterly end of the meeting-house lot, which 
square includes the site of the existing meeting-house 
and of the one which preceded it. By this survey 
the precise position of the present meeting-house 
is accurately determined, as will be seen by the 
larger of the two plans herewith presented. In 
December, 1887, I caused four pieces of granite 
to be made of a proper size and shape for setting 
at the corners of this lot ; and in that month they 
were carefully placed, under the direction of Joel 
M. Marshall, Esq., so that the centres of the tops 
of the stones occupy the places of the " hubs " 
which were set by Mr. Dennett. As long as these 
corners endure the exact site of the present meet- 
ing-house can be determined, even if it should be 
as utterly obliterated as the site of the old one 
is. I believe that the survey of the meeting-house 
lot is as accurate as can be made. It must stand 
as correct unless it can be impeached by higher 
authority. 

I had these surveys made in the hope that they 
might help to determine the position of the old 



APPENDIX. 



79 



meeting-house in relation to that of the present 
one, and I will now give my views on that question. 

We may take it for granted that those who laid 
the foundations of the old house selected what they 
thought was the best site upon the lot. If the old 
house, as we may reasonably suppose, was thus 
placed, every one I think will upon examination 
admit that the present one occupies the best site, 
and that therefore the builders of the new house 
placed it as nearly as was practicable upon the site 
of the old one, and that it consequently covers 
almost, if not quite, the very ground upon which 
the first one stood. This reasonable supposition is 
somewhat confirmed by the fact that, with a sin- 
gle exception, those who remember the old house 
agree that it stood, to the best of their recollection, 
where the new one stands. But from this general 
view let us descend to particulars. 

The length of the old house, speaking generally, 
was in a northeast and southwest direction, and 
the length of the present one is in a northwest 
and southeast direction ; so that the length of the 
one was at or nearly at a right angle to that of 
the other. 

There is a current tradition that in building the 
present house it was extended so far northwesterly 
that a portion of the graveyard and one or more 
graves were encroached upon. To make this en- 
croachment as little as practicable the present house 
was probably extended southeasterly somewhat be- 
yond the line of the old one, but it could not well 



8o 



APPENDIX. 



be extended far in that direction on account of the 
descending ground. Mr. Marshall reasonably con- 
jectures that the slight depression which is notice- 
able along the southwesterly side of the present 
house was caused by scooping gravel out of the 
passage-way between the old house and the old 
graveyard fence, for the purpose of placing it in 
front of the house to make a tolerably level ap- 
proach for carriages. Even now the approach is 
not entirely level. As the house could not be well 
extended farther in that direction, it is not improb- 
able that there was some encroachment upon the 
graveyard by the extension of the building in the 
opposite direction. 

On the supposition that the old house stood only 
five feet farther back than the present one, I indi- 
cate an assumed position for it on the accompany- 
ing plan by the letters A, B, C, D, and the dotted 
lines which connect them. It will be remembered 
that the old house was forty-five feet long, and that 
the present one is forty-three feet wide, so that the 
easterly and westerly assumed lines fall one foot 
outside of the width of the present one. It will be 
seen by the plan that the corner B is nine feet from 
the easterly boundary of the meeting-house lot ; and, 
therefore, if the old meeting-house stood more than 
nine feet easterly of that corner, it would encroach 
upon land where it had no right to be. We cannot 
believe that the Proprietors would put any part of 
the meeting-house over the northeasterly line when 
there was ample room and good ground to place it 



APPENDIX. 



81 



anywhere from one to fifty feet westerly of that line, 
and thus commit a trespass without any conceiv- 
able reason for so doing. It is more reasonable to 
suppose that they left at least nine feet between the 
line and the house, and thus gave room for carriages 
to pass, on their own land, from the northeasterly 
to the northwesterly side, where we are told there 
was an open space between the house and the 
graveyard fence. 

Assuming, as we must, that Mr. Dennett's survey 
is correct, until its authority is satisfactorily contro- 
verted, we are then justified in assuming that the 
old house could not have stood more than nine feet 
easterly of the present one, and also in assuming 
that the position represented by the letters A, B, 
C, D is probably not far out of the way. Even if it 
stood nine feet easterly, yet only the easterly row of 
pews and easterly aisle, or a little more, would have 
been outside of the bounds of the present house. 

While those who remember the old house gener- 
ally concur in the statement that it stood where the 
present one stands, yet one person, Mr. John Dun- 
nell Sands, is positive that it stood twenty-one or 
twenty-two feet farther to the northeast. He said 
to me that it stood at least half of the width of the 
present one in that direction. Consequently he 
thinks that the old house stood more easterly than 
Dennett's line by twelve to thirteen feet. If so, and 
it were still on the meeting-house lot, then Dr. Brew- 
ster put the front of his house some five to six feet 
on the lot, and was a trespasser to that extent. 

ii 



82 



APPENDIX. 



Now, though the front yard of the house is partly 
on the meeting-house lot by Dennett's survey, it is 
hardly supposable that Dr. Brewster would venture 
to put any part of the house itself upon it ; but he 
might venture, as he seems to have done, to place 
it within six or seven feet of the line, as then he 
would save an entrance on his own land to his front 
door. This consideration tends to confirm the cor- 
rectness of Mr. Dennett's survey. 

Mr. Sands assumes that Mr. Dennett's survey is 
wrong, though he does not attempt to verify the 
correctness of his memory by a single fact. A boy 
of thirteen may carry to old age an accurate mem- 
ory of many things, but I am convinced from my 
own observation, and that of others in similar cases, 
that no man, with general recollections only to 
guide him, can with any degree of certainty fix 
within ten feet the position of a building which 
stood on open, unfenced ground, and which has 
been demolished sixty-five years, even if he has 
been on the spot every week during all those years ; 
and especially if, as in this case, during the long 
interim nothing has called his special attention to 
the subject. 

Mr. Sands is now (1887) living at the age of 
seventy-eight years, and was about thirteen years 
old when the old meeting-house was taken down. 
His life has been spent in sight of and within three 
quarters of a mile of the spot where it stood. His 
statement therefore deserves the careful attention 
which I have given to it. 



APPENDIX. 



83 



After making a personal inspection of the prem- 
ises, and carefully considering the facts above 
stated and others of minor importance which I have 
not mentioned, I come to the conclusion that the 
assumed position of the old house, as represented 
on the plan, is as nearly right as any assumed posi- 
tion can be, — certainly more nearly right than the 
one which Mr. Sands would give it, — and that 
there is reasonable ground for believing that this 
assumed position does not vary more than five feet 
in any direction from the true one. From a care- 
ful examination and comparison of the somewhat 
meagre, imperfect, and conflicting statements of 
those who remember the old house, aided by Mr. 
Dennett's survey, I have endeavoured to give as 
good an idea of the edifice and of its position as 
the nature of the case will permit. I trust that 
my endeavour has not been entirely unsuccessful, 
and that the result of my investigations will have 
some interest for a few at least of the present and 
of the future inhabitants of the town. 

It may be thought, and with good show of reason, 
that I have spent more time upon this question than 
its importance demands ; but having undertaken 
to establish the probable position of the old house, 
I have tried to reach a reasonably satisfactory 
conclusion. It adds so much to the dignity and 
impressiveness of the present house to have a well- 
grounded belief that many of our ancestors and all 
the early inhabitants of the town were gathered as 
worshippers within the space enclosed by its walls, 



84 



APPENDIX. 



that I have spared neither time, labour, nor expense 
in endeavouring to make the probability of it as 
clear as all attainable information will permit 

The first burials at the meeting-house were prob- 
ably made soon after its erection, and upon the 
meeting-house lot, and before the graveyard was en- 
closed. As only a small part of the meeting-house 
lot has ever been used for burial, it is probable that 
the first graveyard fence extended ten rods to the 
northwest of it, carrying the same width, — eight 
rods, — which would include the westerly half of the 
northeasterly end of Lot No. 2, would add half an 
acre to that part of the meeting-house lot which has 
been used as a burial place, and would make a yard 
of about five eighths of an acre in extent. There is 
no record of a deed of this half-acre, and perhaps 
the owner, with or without compensation, allowed it 
to be taken, but never gave a deed. All the oldest 
graves are within the bounds above described. 

When the road from Usher's bridge to the meet- 
ing-house was laid out, in 1 808, the graveyard fence 
was probably brought down to that road ; and after 
the present meeting-house was built, if not before, 
the line of fence which now starts from the north- 
easterly corner of the meeting-house was probably 
moved from the head line of Lot No. 2, thus add- 
ing a small triangular piece of ground to this part 
of the graveyard. It will, I think, be found that all 
the graves on this triangular piece have been made 
since the erection of the new house. 



APPENDIX. 



85 



The northwest and southwest sides of this house 
now form a part of the boundaries of the graveyard. 
It is not remembered by any one that the corre- 
sponding sides of the old house formed any part of 
such boundary, but it is remembered that there were 
open spaces on each of those sides. As no con- 
ceivable reason exists why the old graveyard fence 
should touch the old house unless to make it a part 
of the boundary, and as no one remembers that it 
did touch it, the legitimate presumption is that the 
open spaces just mentioned formed one continuous 
passage-way between the house and the graveyard, 
and, as the other two sides were never enclosed, that 
the house stood free and unfenced on the plain. 

In the preparation of what I have written in 
regard to the old meeting-house I am greatly in- 
debted to Mr. Marshall. Of those who remember 
the old house he has seen and talked with Mr. 
Fleming Hill, Mr. John D. Sands, Mrs. Jane Patten, 
Mr. William Sawyer, Mr. Ansel Merrill, and Miss 
Deborah Hopkinson. 

By letters too numerous to mention or to make 
extracts from, he has given me the results of his 
interviews with them, and very kindly and patiently 
answered my many inquiries. But for his interest 
in the subject and kind assistance, I should hardly 
have ventured upon the minute study that I have 
made of the meeting-house and its site. He is now 
collecting information in regard to the church, its 
pastors and members, which I have reason to hope 
will be given to the public at no distant day. 



86 



APPENDIX. 



I am also indebted to Mrs. Jane (Wentworth) 
Patten and to Mrs. Mehetabel (Woodman) Elden 
for their interesting recollections. Mrs. Nancy 
(Wentworth) Cressey, in writing to me on behalf 
of her aunt Patten under date of August 2, 1886, 
says : — 

" Since receiving your last letter I have seen Mr. Blais- 
del Flanders, who spent the days of his boyhood at the 
Lower Corner, and was ten years old when the old church 
was taken down. Nearly all his statements coincide with 
Aunt Jane's. He thinks the house was not plastered, and 
that the roof could be seen from the inside. He agrees 
with Aunt Jane about the two doors in the main building 
and the square wall pews on the sides and an aisle next to 
them all around the house, and the broad aisle from porch 
to pulpit, with two tiers of pews on each side. The body 
pews were not on a level with the floor as in the body of 
the house, but raised one step. He remembers about the 
two doors and the two flights of stairs in the porch, but 
thinks there was no door between the stairs. He says that 
the boys used to run in at one door, up one flight of stairs 
and down the other, and out the door. He remembers 
also that there were windows in the galleries, the same 
as below. 

Mr. Flanders and Aunt Jane think the house was longer 
from porch to pulpit than the other way, and that the 
present house sits on the same spot and same way as the 
old one. 1 As the removing of the house was in contempla- 

1 Most of those who remember the old house are at fault in think- 
ing that the length of it corresponded with the direction of the broad 
aisle. One reason for this error of memory probably is that this aisle, 
by its superior width, by its division of the house into two equal parts, 
and by the stately walk of the minister through it from porch to pulpit, 
was invested with a dignity which to youthful minds made it seem 
longer than it was. 

Another reason probably is that though the minister stands at the 



APPENDIX. 



87 



tion repairs were not kept up ; the doors were left open, and 
sheep would sometimes go in. When the house was struck 
by lightning Aunt Jane remembers hearing your mother 
say, or insinuate, that she thought it was a judgment 
sent upon the people for not taking better care of the 
house." 

From other letters of Mrs. Cressey I make the 
following extracts: — 

" Aunt thinks that the wall pews were square, but that 
the others, including the wing pews on one side of the pul- 
pit (the side nearest the cemetery) were long. . . . There 
was an open space on the west side of the house, so that 
people could walk or ride, Aunt Jane thinks, all around the 
house." 

end of the present house and looks lengthways through it, yet it is 
from a pulpit which is nearly on the same spot and which faces the 
same way as the old one ; so that the memory as it goes back through 
sixty-five years can scarcely recall the difference in the position of the 
two houses as to length and breadth. 

Mr. Sands distinctly remembers that the length of the old house 
was across the length of the present one ; and even if he had no 
recollection about it or if his recollection coincided with that of Mrs. 
Patten and Mr. Flanders, yet I should have no doubt concerning it ; 
for if the length of the old house corresponded with the length of this 
one, then, after deducting eight to ten feet for aisles, there would have 
been but twenty-five to twenty-seven feet to divide among the six 
rows of pews. If it stood the other way, there would be thirty-five to 
thirty-seven feet for the six rows. The wall pews were probably 
about four feet deep from the aisle by four to five the other way, with 
seats, I suppose, on three sides. Deducting eight to ten feet for 
aisles and eight feet for the wall pews on opposite sides, we have left 
twenty-seven to twenty-nine feet for the four rows of body pews, giving 
from six and three quarters to seven and one quarter feet for each 
pew. Moreover, when the old meeting-house was built it was the 
prevalent style to place the pulpit on the side and not at the end of 
the house. So was it placed in the "Old South" in Boston, in the 
Congregational Meeting-house in Gorham, and in most others of that 
day. 



88 



APPENDIX. 



I also learn from Mr. Marshall that Mrs. Patten 
" says that Dr. Coffin, while she attended church, 
invariably went round to the northeast door of the 
porch and entered so as to walk the whole length 
of the [broad] aisle to the pulpit." 

From Mrs. Elden's letters in answer to my ques- 
tions I make the following extracts : — 

" Never any paint inside or out. . . . No plastering. 
. . . Open to roof. . . . Galleries on three sides. . . . 
There was a porch where all went, — one attraction, pub- 
lishments. . . . Mother went out at the porch door. I 
followed the multitude out front [northeast door], wanting 
to see how the houses of York and Lancaster looked, 
as Usher called them. . . . When the schoolhouse was 
being built Mr. Asa Brown, the schoolmaster, instructed us 
children in the meeting-house. Sometimes he would go 
into the front gallery and hear us read loud, so he could 
hear. We sat in pews in mid-house. . . . No door of the 
old meeting-house opened towards Chase's. . . . For con- 
venience there must have been an alley between the house 
and graveyard. . . . Mother has told me that she with 
other girls would go out there between meetings to eat 
their luncheons. ... As you went in from the porch 
Captain Elden's pew was on the right, Emery's on the 
left [wall pews] one step higher than the body pews. 
. . . Father's pew was next back of your uncle Charles 
Coffin's." 



APPENDIX. 



8 9 



III. 

DR. COFFIN'S MANUSCRIPT SERMONS. 



Most of Dr. Coffin's sermons were given to the 
Maine Historical Society by his granddaughter, 
Mrs. Almira Boardman (Coffin) Foss. 

Among these is one numbered 975, preceded by 
the following statement : — 

" Composed May 12, 1808. For my own hearers 
peculiarly. 

" I have now preached in this town more than forty- 
seven years, i. e., from Feb. 8, 1761, to the present time. 
In all this space of duration, my aim has been not to 
please men, but God ; not to deliver the councils of men, 
but the gospel of Christianity ; not to vary with the times 
and the different prejudices of hearers, but to cleave to 
that Divine Word which liveth the same to-day and yes- 
terday. I have endeavored to be plain, open, and explicit, 
whether speaking on grace or duty, faith or works. And 
I have even feared lest, aiming to give knowledge, I have 
too much neglected to excite affection. And yet there is 
reason to apprehend that Christian knowledge is almost 
as rare among us as Christian affection and Christian 
temper. In a town circumstanced for religion as this now 
is, it is indeed to be expected that prejudices will arise and 

12 



9Q 



APPENDIX. 



prevail, and misunderstandings be many, and some cen- 
sures and hard words be heard ; but that a man should 
be thought to preach human deeds as the meritorious 
cause of eternal life, after he had through forty-seven 
years taught salvation through Christ alone, was hardly 
to be expected. And yet it seems I have been judged 
thus. Many others — by what means I do not fully know 
— have learned to believe that I denied conversion, or a 
sanctified change of heart. Now, such gross misrepre- 
sentations spread among us must be supposed to produce 
effects injurious to souls. They tend strongly to prevent 
the good and saving effects of the gospel preached. They 
tend to promote painful feelings in the heart and temper, 
injurious to religion. And surely the times urge us to 
remove out of the way every hindrance to the success of 
the gospel, and to embrace every help to promote it. I 
will, then, once more, in a manner as plain as possible, 
aim to show you that salvation is not of works, and 
that without a religious change of temper no man can 
be saved." 



i 



APPENDIX. 



91 



IV. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BUXTON. 



Below is a list of all printed books and pam- 
phlets and of all engraved maps relating to Buxton, 
and of the printed sermons of Dr. Coffin, so far as 
they are known to me. The list does not give title- 
pages, etc., in full, but .only such a description as 
will serve to identify the works. 

1. A Discourse on the Excellency of the Christian Charac- 

ter, delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. Ebenezer 
Coffin, in Brunswick, Maine, June 23, 1794. By Rev. 
Paul Coffin. Newburyport, 1794. 

2. " A Sermon preached before his Honor Moses Gill, 

Esq., Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable the Coun- 
cil, Senate, and House of Representatives of the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 29, 1799, 
being the day of General Election. By Rev. Paul 
Coffin, A. M., pastor of the church in Buxton." 
Boston, 1799. 

3. A Sermon-preached in Buxton, a. d. 1802, at the Ordi- 

nation of " Abner Flanders to the work of the minis- 
try. By William Batchelder, of Berwick, preacher 
of the gospel." Printed in 1803, at Portsmouth, 
N. H. Reprinted in Portland, 1858, at the expense 
of Mark P. Emery. 



APPENDIX. 



Rev. Asa Rand was ordained at Gorham, January 18, 
1809. Rev. Dr. Appleton, President of Bowdoin 
College, preached the sermon, and Rev. Paul Coffin 
gave the charge. The sermon and charge were 
printed. 

A Sermon on Faith, Love, and Hope, preached in Saco, 
October 24, 1810, at the Ordination of Rev. Jonathan 
Cogswell. By Rev. Paul Coffin. The charge was 
also by Mr. Coffin. Kennebunk, 181 1. 

In a pamphlet printed by James K. Remick, Kenne- 
bunk, appear the sermons below named : — 

1. Sermon by Rev. Nathaniel H. Fletcher, at the 

funeral of Dr. Coffin, June 8, 182 1. 

2. Sermon by Rev. Levi Loring, June 13, 1821, occa- 

sioned by the death of Dr. Coffin. 

3. The Farewell Sermon of Dr. Coffin, preached 

October 22, 1820. 

" Covenants of the Congregational Church of Christ 
in Buxton; organized March 6, 1763." Error in 
date; should be March 16. Portland, 1824. 

An Address by Rev. Levi Loring on "The Origin, 
Evils, and Remedy of Intemperance," delivered in 
Buxton, April 10, 1828. Portland, 1828. 

Memoir of Rev. Paul Coffin, D. D., written by his son 
Charles, and printed March 2, 1844, in "The New 
World," New York, Park Benjamin, Editor. 

This has not been reprinted, but the substance of 
it, mostly in the language of the author, is contained 
in a memoir which may be found in Vol. IV. of the 
Collections of the Maine Historical Society. A part 
of the memoir appears in the Buxton Centennial vol- 
ume, edited by Joel M. Marshall, Esq. ; and also in 
this book. 



APPENDIX. 



93 



0. In Vol. II. of the Collections of the Maine Histori- 

cal Society (1847) ls an article on the Narraganset 
Townships by Charles Coffin, and about six pages 
of it is devoted to Narraganset No. 1. 

1. A Centennial Address by Rev. Nathaniel West Wil- 

liams, delivered in Buxton, October 17, 1850. Port- 
land, 1850. 

This is a very creditable production by one who was 
but a temporary sojourner in town. There are some 
errors in it which are noted in the Buxton Centennial 
book, edited by Mr. Marshall. 

2. " The Records of the Church of Christ in Buxton, 

Maine, during the Pastorate of Rev. Paul Coffin, 
D. D." Printed for Cyrus Woodman, 1868. 

3. Dennett's map of Buxton, 1870. Lithographed and 

published, 1871. This shows the original Divisions 
and Lots as surveyed for the Proprietors of Narra- 
ganset No. 1. On it are printed some interesting 
historical memoranda. 

4. Records of the Proprietors of Narraganset Town- 

ship No. 1, with a Documentary Introduction and 
Notes by William F. Goodwin, Captain U. S. Army. 
Concord, N. H., 1871. 

5. " Rededication of Buxton Baptist Church/' at Buxton 

Centre. An account of it may be found in the 
Portland " Daily Press" of May 24, 1872. 

6. " A Report of the Proceedings at the Celebration of 

the first Centennial Anniversary of the Incorpora- 
tion of the Town of Buxton, Maine, held at Buxton, 
August 14, 1872." Edited by Joel M. Marshall, 
Esq. 

A notice of this celebration by Miss Louisa Tit- 
comb was printed in the Portland " Transcript " of 
August 24, 1872. 



94 



APPENDIX. 



17. In 1852-53 Mr. Daniel Dennett, without encourage- 

ment from any one, made a remarkable survey of 
Buxton. He surveyed every public road and all the 
exterior lines of the town, and noted the position of 
every dwelling-house. From the field notes of this 
survey he constructed a map on a scale of fifty rods 
to the inch. The field notes are preserved. It was 
an unparalleled undertaking, the offspring of rare 
public spirit and intelligence. It will cause his 
name to be held in honour as long as Buxton shall 
endure. This map, on a reduced scale of one hun- 
dred rods to the inch, omitting the distances marked 
upon the original, was lithographed and published 
in 1872. An interesting statement is printed 
upon it. 

18. " Semi-Centennial of York County Conference, Buxton, 

Maine, June 4 and 5, 1872." By J. D. Emerson and 
B. P. Snow. Portland, 1876. 

This handsomely printed pamphlet of 119 pages is 
very creditable to the Conference and to the Editors. 
There is an article in it by Hon. Joseph Titcomb 
which deserves especial commendation both for matter 
and style. 

19. " The Woodmans of Buxton, Maine." By Cyrus 

Woodman. Boston, 1874. 

20. " History of York County, Maine, with Illustrations 

and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men 
and Pioneers. Philadelphia, Evarts and Peck, 1880. 
Press of J. B. Lippincott & Co." 

This book was gotten up by persons living out of 
the State for the purpose of making money, and not 
from any interest in York County or from any love of 
historical investigation. The material for it was col- 
lected mainly from matter already in print, and the 
article on Buxton is of no special value. 



APPENDIX. 



95 



21. "Living by The Day." A Sermon by Rev. Joseph 
Bartlett, with a biographical sketch of the author. 
Printed for private distribution. " To the Parish- 
ioners and Friends of the Rev. Joseph Bartlett, 
this plain and truthful sermon, which has brought 
comfort to some, and this brief memorial, are af- 
fectionately dedicated " by Mrs. Bartlett. January, 
1883. 



THE END. 



POSTSCRIPT. 



In the note on page 76, I have stated that the Proprie- 
tors probably procured three acres from John Cole as a 
meeting-house lot. This is a legitimate inference from the 
facts therein stated, but is nevertheless incorrect. Since 
this book went into the hands of the binder I have discov- 
ered that when Hancock conveyed the meeting-house lot 
to a Committee of the Proprietors, the same Committee, 
on the same day, conveyed to him a strip of land eight 
rods by sixty, lying along the whole southwesterly boun- 
dary of Lot 2 of Range E, in the Second Division ; and, 
consequently, that this is the three acres referred to in the 
inventory of his estate. 

I add a little to the Bibliography on page 91. I have 
learned within a few days that Mr. Coffin delivered the 
charge at the ordination of Rev. Jeremiah Noyes, in 1803, 
and that it was printed, together with the sermon preached 
by Mr. Miltimore. I have reason to believe that his ohargc 3lJlVVt 
at the installation of Rev. John Tompson at South Berwick, 
in 1783, was also printed. 



